Lot 573: Willy Tirr (British, Stettin, Germany 1915-2000 Leeds) Claws Abstract brown and blue,

Claws
Abstract brown and blue,
signed in pencil, watercolour,
65 x 49.5cm (25 9/16 x 19 1/2in).

Willy Tirr was born in Stettin, Germany in 1915. At the age of 23, he fled Nazi Germany and settled in England. After serving in the war, he began teaching at Leeds College of art, painting his own work from a studio attached to his home. He exhibited widely both in Britain and internationally. He was Head of Fine Art at Leeds Polytechnic until 1981 when he retired. A Willy Tirr prize for the most promising student in watercolour and landscape paintings is still awarded every year at the Leeds Metropolitan University.