The People of Gibraltar

1927 - William Lionel Wyllie - Academy Rejected

William Lionel Wyllie was born in London in 1851. As a young man he made a name for himself as an illustrator for the Graphic magazine. When the Royal Academy rejected some of his paintings in 1875 he set off on several cruises throughout Europe and elsewhere. They must have been the source of inspiration for literally thousands of mostly watercolours and drawings that he produced throughout his lifetime.

William Lionel Wyllie

Among these are several depicting the Straits and the Rock of Gibraltar. The suggestion is that he visited the Rock more than once. After having viewed many of his other paintings of seaports such as Malta, Venice, Corsica, Funchal, Palermo, Athens . . . and many others, I think it would be fair to say that apart from one or two those of the Rock are among his least successful.