Jack Butler Yeats
Yeats was born in London on 29 August 1871, son of the portrait painter and illustrator John Butler Yeats and brother to the poet William Butler Yeats. He resided with his maternal grandparents for much of his childhood at their home just outside of Sligo. At sixteen he returned to London and began to attend classes at South Kensington School of Art, and later attended Chiswick Art School, West London Art School and Westminster School of Art. Yeats started work as an illustrator in the late 1880s, providing drawings to The Vegetarian, the Daily Graphic, the Illustrated London News and many other publications in England, Ireland and America. Irish subject-matter was a major component of the artists oeuvre even at this early stage in his career, and he returned to the country regularly from London. His Irish works were very well-received, and in 1900 he mounted an exhibition entitled Sketches of Life in the West of Ireland and Elsewhere at the Leinster Hall. The success of the event prompted Yeats to exhibit a similar selection of works the following year at Walkers Galleries, 9 Merrion Row, Dublin before crowds of visitors. Further exhibitions of West of Ireland subjects followed and in 1912 he published a volume of forty drawings and paintings entitled Life in the West of Ireland. In 1910 Yeats moved from his home in Devon to reside at Red Ford House, Greystones, Co Wicklow. He began to submit works to the RHA annual exhibition and was elected RHA in 1916. He also joined the United Arts Club and later served on the committee. Along with Paul Henry and Clare Marsh, Yeats was one of the first members of the Society of Dublin Painters, which was founded in 1920. In that same year Sir John Lavery appointed him as one of the first ten members of the newly-formed Belfast Art Society. The 1920s also marked a dramatic change in the artists style as he turned away from the making of prints to focus instead on painting. In 1924 The Liffey Swim (NGI) won Yeats a silver medal at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. Throughout the 1930s and 40s Yeats participated in numerous exhibitions internationally, including the Chicago Century of Progress Exposition in 1933. In 1939 he was appointed governor of the National Gallery of Ireland. The 1940s were very productive years for the artist, he is thought to have painted more than one hundred pictures a year at this period. He also exhibited extensively in Ireland and overseas. At the end of the decade he began to retire to Portobello House nursing home where he died in March 1957. Exhibitions followed his death in numerous venues throughout Ireland. In 1999 the Yeats Museum, a permanent collection of works by the artist, opened in the National Gallery of Ireland. His works can be found in many prominent institutions, including the Musee dArt Moderne, Paris and the Museum of Art, Washington DC.
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'THE READING ROOM, 1935'
- Price Realised: 95,000
- Sale: 06 June 2022
- oil on panel
- 9 x 14in. (22.86 x 35.56cm)
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'AGAINST THE STREAM, 1945'
- Price Realised: 92,000
- Sale: 02 October 2017
- oil on panel
- 9 x 14in. (22.86 x 35.56cm)
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'THE STREET IN SHADOW, 1932'
- Price Realised: 90,000
- Sale: 24 November 2008
- oil on panel
- 24 by 36cm., 9.5 by 14.2 5in.
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'ON THE COURTHOUSE STEPS, 1946'
- Price Realised: 88,000
- Sale: 12 March 2012
- oil on canvas
- 35.56 by 45.72cm., 14 by 18in.
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'SEEK NO FURTHER II, 1947'
- Price Realised: 88,000
- Sale: 02 March 2009
- oil on board
- 23 by 36cm., 9.25 by 14.2 5in.
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'THE FOURTH ESTATE, 1945'
- Price Realised: 85,000
- Sale: 27 May 2024
- oil on panel
- 9 x 14in. (22.86 x 35.56cm)
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'WAVES AT BOWMORE, ROSSES POINT, SLIGO, 1936'
- Price Realised: 85,000
- Sale: 04 March 2024
- oil on board
- 9 x 14in. (22.86 x 35.56cm)
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'SINGING 'UNDER THE CANOPY OF HEAVEN', 1950'
- Price Realised: 85,000
- Sale: 26 September 2016
- oil on board
- 9 x 14in. (22.86 x 35.56cm)
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'NIGHT, GLENGARRIFF, 1944'
- Price Realised: 82,000
- Sale: 25 April 2006
- signed lower left; inscribed in another hand and with the original loan exhibition label on reverse
- 23 by 36cm., 9.25 by 14.2in.
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'THE STREET IN SHADOW, 1932'
- Price Realised: 72,000
- Sale: 28 November 2011
- oil on panel
- 24 by 36cm., 9.5 by 14.2 5in.
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'BELOW THE GOLDEN FALLS, 1936'
- Price Realised: 70,000
- Sale: 26 November 2007
- oil on board
- 23 by 36cm., 9.25 by 14.2 5in.
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'THE QUAY WORKER'S HOME, 1927'
- Price Realised: 68,000
- Sale: 27 May 2019
- oil on slateboard
- 8Ύ x 14in. (22.23 x 35.56cm)
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'THE OVERFLOW OF THE CANAL 1942'
- Price Realised: 60,000
- Sale: 30 November 2004
- oil on panel
- 23 by 36cm., 9 by 14in.
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'SWEETS, TOBACCO, BLOOD AND THUNDER'
- Price Realised: 53,327
- Sale: 09 October 2001
- oil on panel
- 23 by 36cm., 9 by 14in.
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'AGAINST THE STREAM, 1945'
- Price Realised: 53,000
- Sale: 26 November 2012
- oil on board
- 9 by 14in., 22.86 by 35.56cm.
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'RIVER MOUTH, GLENBEIGH, COUNTY KERRY, 1930'
- Price Realised: 52,000
- Sale: 07 December 2020
- oil on panel
- 9 x 14in. (22.86 x 35.56cm)
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'OLD MEN BATHING, 1922'
- Price Realised: 50,000
- Sale: 26 February 2018
- oil on board
- 9 x 14in. (22.86 x 35.56cm)
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'THE PONTOON, 1947'
- Price Realised: 49,000
- Sale: 21 May 2012
- oil on board
- 9 by 14in., 22.86 by 35.56cm.
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'FRESH HORSES, c. 1914'
- Price Realised: 42,000
- Sale: 27 February 2017
- oil on panel
- 14 x 9in. (35.56 x 22.86cm)
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'GLENCAR, SLIGO, 1949'
- Price Realised: 42,000
- Sale: 26 November 2012
- oil on panel
- 9 by 14in., 22.86 by 35.56cm.
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'MY FRIEND BENEATH THE SEA, 1924'
- Price Realised: 40,000
- Sale: 06 June 2022
- oil on panel
- 9 x 14in. (22.86 x 35.56cm)
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'WINTER IN GALWAY, FROM LADY GREGORY'S HOUSE, COOLE PARK, 1944'
- Price Realised: 40,000
- Sale: 26 February 2018
- oil on board
- 9 x 14in. (22.86 x 35.56cm)
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'THE OLD CHAMPION, circa 1899'
- Price Realised: 39,000
- Sale: 25 April 2006
- signed lower left; inscribed on reverse
- 37 by 27cm., 14.5 by 10.5in.
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'A PATRIOT, circa 1902'
- Price Realised: 36,500
- Sale: 25 April 2006
- stamped with monogram lower left; exhibition label on reverse
- 36 by 17cm., 14 by 6.75in.
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'A BOXING MATCH, circa 1903'
- Price Realised: 36,000
- Sale: 30 April 2007
- pen and ink over pencil on paper mounted on card
- 28 by 39cm., 11 by 15.5in.
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'A PROFESSIONAL MAN, c.1905'
- Price Realised: 34,000
- Sale: 04 March 2024
- watercolour on card laid on board
- 23 x 19Όin. (58.42 x 48.90cm)
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'THE DODDER IN FLOOD, BALLSBRIDGE, DUBLIN, 1929'
- Price Realised: 33,000
- Sale: 27 November 2017
- oil on panel
- 9 x 14in. (22.86 x 35.56cm)
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'THE ENTHUSIASTS, 1902'
- Price Realised: 32,000
- Sale: 06 March 2023
- watercolour
- 19 x 14½in. (48.26 x 36.83cm)