George Wyllie
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George Wyllie MBE |
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George Wyllie - August 2006
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| Born |
December 31, 1921 Shettleston, Glasgow, Scotland |
| Died | May 15, 2012 (aged 90) Inverclyde |
| Resting place | Greenock Crematorium 55°56′54″N 4°46′37″W / 55.948275°N 4.776916°W |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Notable work | Straw Locomotive, Paper Boat |
| Spouse(s) | Daphne Watts (m. 1944–2004) |
| Awards | MBE 2005 Services to the Arts |
| Website | georgewyllie |
George Ralston Wyllie MBE (31 December 1921 – 15 May 2012) was a Scottish artist. Wyllie produced a number of notable public works, such as the Straw Locomotive and the Paper Boat.
Wyllie was born in Shettleston, in the east end of Glasgow, and grew up in Craigton, in the south west of the city. He was educated at Bellahouston Academy and Allan Glen's School. He later resided in Gourock. He worked as a customs officer before taking up art. He described himself as a "scul?tor".
Wyllie's Straw Locomotive consisted of a full size steam locomotive, constructed from straw, and suspended from the Finnieston Crane, by the River Clyde in Glasgow. The sculpture was built at the former locomotive works at Springburn, and suspended from the crane for several months during 1987, before being taken back to the Springburn site and ceremonially burnt. The 80-foot Paper Boat was exhibited at The Tramway in Glasgow and at other sites including a placement on the Hudson River in New York, for which visit it carried quotations from Adam Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments.
Wyllie's Slap and Tickle Machine is in the collection of the People's Palace, Glasgow, and wind-up stainless steel palm trees and a sculptural bandstand featured in the café of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.
George Wyllie was commissioned in the 1970s to build some French influenced sculptures including General Charles de Gaulle, one of the Eiffel Tower and smaller mustachioed & beret wearing French visages (used as coat hooks) that were dotted around the city's first wine bar, "La Bonne Auberge", in its original site (the basement of the now defunct Beacons Hotel at 7 Park Terrace).
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