The late James Willis, tribal art dealer extraordinaire, embarked on his career almost 50 years ago, and during that half century period from the early 1970s to 2019, he evolved from wunderkind to revered dealer (James Willis Tribal Art), who, in the course of his almost 50 years as an art dealer, aided private collectors and public collections in assembling universally admired African art collections. His esteemed career would lead to great success and a justly earned reputation as one of the most respected art dealers of that period.