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 artist’s 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 Walker’s 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 artist’s 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 d’Art Moderne, Paris and the Museum of Art, Washington DC.
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'THE TURFCUTTER'S DONKEY by PATRICIA LYNCH'
- Price Realised: €1,050
- Sale: 30 November 2009
- 20 by 15cm., 8 by 5.75in.
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'THE STRAND RACES, THE FINISH'
- Price Realised: €1,050
- Sale: 02 March 2009
- handcoloured Cuala Press print
- 18 by 48cm., 7 by 19in.
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'OLD MAN OLD MAN'
- Price Realised: €1,016
- Sale: 10 October 2000
- ink and watercolour
- 18 by 14cm., 7 by 5.5in.
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'CORRESPONDENCE'
- Price Realised: €1,000
- Sale: 10 July 2023
- hand-written and typed letters; (3)
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'THE STRAND RACES: THE START AND THE FINISH (A PAIR), c. 1935'
- Price Realised: €1,000
- Sale: 13 December 2021
- hand-coloured Cuala Press prints - early impressions; (2)
- 5 x 17in. (12.70 x 43.18cm)
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'THE SHANACHIE and THE HURLEY PLAYER (A PAIR)'
- Price Realised: €1,000
- Sale: 25 November 2019
- handcoloured woodblock print; (2)
- 8 x 5in. (20.32 x 12.70cm)
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'TURF BOAT AT KINVARA, 1899'
- Price Realised: €1,000
- Sale: 25 November 2019
- watercolour and pencil
- 3½ x 5in. (8.89 x 12.70cm)
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'THE STRAND RACES: THE START AND THE FINISH (A PAIR)'
- Price Realised: €1,000
- Sale: 24 February 2014
- hand-coloured Cuala Press print; (2); (framed uniformly)
- 5 by 17in., 12.5 by 42.5cm.
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'JACK B. YEATS: A CATALOGUE RAISONNE OF THE OIL PAINTINGS by HILARY PYLE HRHA'
- Price Realised: €1,000
- Sale: 14 March 2011
- 29 by 23cm., 11.2 5 by 9in.
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'THE TURFCUTTER'S DONKEY by PATRICIA LYNCH'
- Price Realised: €1,000
- Sale: 14 March 2011
- 20 by 15cm., 8 by 5.75in.
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'ROUNDTOWER WITH VIEW OF SURROUNDING LANDSCAPE'
- Price Realised: €1,000
- Sale: 04 October 2010
- watercolour over pencil (no.21)
- 9 by 13cm., 3.5 by 5in.
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'LIFE IN THE WEST OF IRELAND, DRAWN AND PAINTED BY JACK BUTLER YEATS'
- Price Realised: €1,000
- Sale: 18 May 2009
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'A BROADSIDE - SEVEN ISSUES'
- Price Realised: €1,000
- Sale: 09 December 2006
- hand-coloured Cuala Press prints
- 28 by 19cm., 11 by 7.5in.
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'Hilary Pyle, Jack B. Yeats: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings - Three Volume Set'
- Price Realised: €1,000
- Sale: 27 May 2006
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'Hilary Pyle, Jack B. Yeats: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings - three volume set'
- Price Realised: €1,000
- Sale: 27 May 2006
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'CIRCUS HORSE, 1955'
- Price Realised: €950
- Sale: 13 December 2023
- ink; (unframed)
- 3½ x 4½in. (8.89 x 11.43cm)
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'HORSE, 1954'
- Price Realised: €950
- Sale: 13 December 2023
- ink; (unframed)
- 3½ x 4½in. (8.89 x 11.43cm)
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'THE SIDE CAR'
- Price Realised: €950
- Sale: 12 December 2022
- handcoloured Cuala Press print
- 4¼ x 6½in. (10.80 x 16.51cm)
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'PAWN BROKERS SALE'
- Price Realised: €950
- Sale: 25 May 2015
- watercolour
- 4.80 x 3.40in. (12.19 x 8.64cm)
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'TREES REFLECTED IN COOLE LAKE'
- Price Realised: €950
- Sale: 04 October 2010
- watercolour over pencil (no.32)
- 9 by 13cm., 3.5 by 5in.
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'WEAVER'
- Price Realised: €950
- Sale: 04 October 2010
- watercolour over pencil (no.25)
- 7 by 9cm., 2.75 by 3.5in.
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'HEADSTONES'
- Price Realised: €950
- Sale: 04 October 2010
- watercolour over pencil (no.18)
- 13 by 9cm., 5 by 3.5in.
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'John M. Synge, The Aran Islands with Drawings by Jack B. Yeats'
- Price Realised: €950
- Sale: 12 June 2005
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'A SHOP IN SAILOR TOWN'
- Price Realised: €900
- Sale: 23 October 2023
- hand-coloured Cuala Press print
- 5½ x 8in. (13.97 x 20.32cm)
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'NEEDLEWORK, 1899'
- Price Realised: €900
- Sale: 25 November 2019
- watercolour and pencil
- 5 x 3½in. (12.70 x 8.89cm)
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'YOUNG WOMAN WEARING A MUFF, 1899'
- Price Realised: €900
- Sale: 25 November 2019
- watercolour and pencil
- 5 x 3½in. (12.70 x 8.89cm)
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'SKETCHES OF LANDSCAPE AND A BOAT (A PAIR)'
- Price Realised: €900
- Sale: 25 November 2019
- pencil; (2)
- 3½ x 5in. (8.89 x 12.70cm)
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'WELL AND NETTLES, 1899'
- Price Realised: €900
- Sale: 25 November 2019
- watercolour and pencil
- 5 x 3½in. (12.70 x 8.89cm)