Willy Tirr
(1915 - 1991)

Self-taught painter and teacher working mainly in watercolour, oil acrylic and collage, born in Stettin, Germany. Fled Germany in 1938, came to England and carried on his painting, and began teaching at Leeds College of Art in 1960; from 1968 he held the position of Head of Fine Art until retirement in 1980. 

Tirr’s abstract pictures include subtle biographical references, strong sweeps of colour beckoning and threatening.  He appeared in many mixed shows, including The Teaching Image, at Leeds City Art Gallery, 1964.  Had several dozen solo shows after New Vision Gallery, 1958, later ones including Leeds University Gallery, 1988; Scarborough Art Gallery, 1989; and Gallery North, Kirkby Lonsdale, 1990.

Many public collections hold examples, including Bradford, Durham, Lancaster and Leeds Universities; Bradford City Art Gallery; Ben Uri Art Society; and Wollongong University, Australia, where in the early 1980s Tirr was artist-in-residence.  Died in Leeds, Yorkshire.