Jack Butler Yeats RHA (29 August 1871 – 28 March 1957) was an

Irish art The history of Irish art starts around 3200 BC with Neolithic stone carvings at the Newgrange megalithic tomb, part of the Brú na Bóinne complex which still stands today, County Meath. In early-Bronze Age Ireland there is evidence of Beaker cult ...

ist and Olympic medalist.

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

was his brother. Butler's early style was that of an illustrator; he only began to work regularly in

oils An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

in 1906. His early pictures are simple lyrical depictions of

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the p ...

and figures, predominantly from the west of Ireland—especially of his boyhood home of Sligo. Yeats's work contains elements of

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

. He later would adopt the style of Expressionism.

Biography

Yeats was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. He was the youngest son of Irish portraitist

John Butler Yeats John Butler Yeats (16 March 1839 – 3 February 1922) was an Irish people, Irish artist and the father of W. B. Yeats, Lily Yeats, Elizabeth Yeats, Elizabeth Corbett "Lolly" Yeats and Jack Butler Yeats. The National Gallery of Ireland holds a nu ...

and the brother of

, who received the 1923 Nobel Prize in Literature. He grew up in Sligo with his maternal grandparents, before returning to his parents' home in London in 1887. Yeats attended the

Chiswick School of Art The Chiswick School of Art, sometimes called the Chiswick School of Art and Science, was an art school in Bath Road, Bedford Park, London, from 1881 until 1899, which was then merged into the Acton and Chiswick Polytechnic. In 1928, it became the Ch ...

with his sisters

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

and Susan, learning "Freehand drawing in all its branches, practical Geometry and perspective, pottery and tile painting, design for decorative purposes – as in Wall-papers, Furniture, Metalwork, Stained Glass". Early in his career, Yeats worked as an illustrator for magazines like the ''

Boy's Own Paper ''The Boy's Own Paper'' was a British story paper aimed at young and teenage boys, published from 1879 to 1967. Publishing history The idea for the publication was first raised in 1878 by the Religious Tract Society, as a means to encourage you ...

'' and ''Judy'', drew comic strips, including the Sherlock Holmes parody "Chubb-Lock Homes" for '' Comic Cuts'', and wrote articles for ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'' under the pseudonym "W. Bird". In 1894 he married Mary Cottenham, also a native of England and two years his senior, and resided in Wicklow according to the

Census of Ireland, 1911 The 1911 Census of Ireland was the last census that covered the whole island of Ireland. Censuses were taken at ten-year intervals from 1821 onwards, but the 1921 census was cancelled due to the Irish War of Independence. The original records ...

. From around 1920, he developed into an intensely

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

artist, moving from illustration to

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sym ...

. He was sympathetic to the Irish Republican cause, but not politically active. However, he believed that 'a painter must be part of the land and of the life he paints', and his own artistic development, as a

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

and

, helped articulate a modern

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

of the 20th century, partly by depicting specifically Irish subjects, but also by doing so in the light of universal themes such as the loneliness of the individual, and the universality of the plight of man. Samuel Beckett wrote that "Yeats is with the great of our time... because he brings light, as only the great dare to bring light, to the issueless predicament of existence." The Marxist art critic and author

John Berger John Peter Berger (; 5 November 1926 – 2 January 2017) was an English art critic, novelist, painter and poet. His novel '' G.'' won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism '' Ways of Seeing'', written as an accompaniment to the ...

also paid tribute to Yeats from a very different perspective, praising the artist as a "great painter" with a "sense of the future, an awareness of the possibility of a world other than the one we know". His favourite subjects included the Irish landscape, horses, circus and travelling players. His early paintings and drawings are distinguished by an energetic simplicity of line and colour, his later paintings by an extremely vigorous and experimental treatment of often thickly applied paint. He frequently abandoned the brush altogether, applying paint in a variety of different ways, and was deeply interested in the expressive power of colour. Despite his position as the most important Irish artist of the 20th century (and the first to sell for over £1m), he took no pupils and allowed no one to watch him work, so he remains a unique figure. The artist closest to him in style is his friend, the Austrian painter,

Oskar Kokoschka Oskar Kokoschka (1 March 1886 – 22 February 1980) was an Austrian artist, poet, playwright, and teacher best known for his intense expressionistic portraits and landscapes, as well as his theories on vision that influenced the Viennese Expres ...

. In 1943 he accepted

Victor Waddington Victor Waddington (1907 - 1981) was a British art dealer, active in Dublin and then London, an early advocate for the work of Jack Yeats and Henri Hayden. He was the father of fellow art dealers, Leslie and Theo Waddington. Career He started the ...

as his sole dealer and business manager. Waddington played a crucial role in his career and reputation. Besides painting, Yeats had a significant interest in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and in

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. He was a close friend of Samuel Beckett. He designed sets for the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the p ...

, and three of his own plays were also produced there. His literary works include ''The Careless Flower'', ''The Amaranthers'' (much admired by Beckett), ''Ah Well, A Romance in Perpetuity'', ''And To You Also'', and ''The Charmed Life''. Yeats's paintings usually bear poetic and evocative titles. He was elected a member of the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became in ...

in 1916. He died in Dublin in 1957, and was buried in

Mount Jerome Cemetery Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

. Yeats holds the distinction of being Ireland's first medalist at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

in the wake of creation of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

. At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, Yeats' painting ''The Liffey Swim'' won a silver medal in the arts and culture segment of the Games. In the competition records the painting is simply entitled ''Swimming''.

Works

In November 2010, one of Yeats's works, ''A Horseman Enters a Town at Night'', painted in 1948 and previously owned by novelist

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

, sold for nearly £350,000 at a Christie's auction in London. A smaller work, ''Man in a Room Thinking'', painted in 1947, sold for £66,000 at the same auction. His painting ''Sleep Sound'' (1955) was bought by

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

in 1993 for £45,500 and sold at auction in 2016 for £233,000. In 1999 the painting, ''The Wild Ones'', had sold at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

in London for over £1.2m. Whyte's Auctioneers hold the world record sale price for a Yeats painting, ''Reverie'' (1931), which sold for €1,400,000 in November 2019. The Model, Home of The Niland Collection, in Sligo cares for one of the best and most extensive collections of Jack B. Yeats work in existence. It presents regular curated exhibitions of his work, notably, The Outside in 2011, Enter the Clowns - The Circus as Metaphor, 2013; The Music has Come, 2014; Painted Universe, 2018; Salt Water Ballads, 2021.

Hosting museums

* The Model, Sligo * The Hunt Museum,

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland ( ga, Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on ...

Crawford Art Gallery The Crawford Art Gallery ( ga, Áiléar Crawford) is a public art gallery and museum in the city of Cork, Ireland. Known informally as the Crawford, it was designated a 'National Cultural Institution' in 2006. It is "dedicated to the visual arts ...

, Cork *

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the ...

, Ottawa *

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

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*
The Swinford Funeral at the Walters Art Museum
* The Municipal Art Collection,

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

Ulster Museum The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasure ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

* The Snite Museum of Art,

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

*
Driftwood in a Cave at the Snite Museum of Art

Notes

References

* Samuel Beckett. 1991. ''Jack B. Yeats: The Late Paintings'' (Whitechapel Art Gallery) * John Booth. 1993. ''Jack B. Yeats: A Vision of Ireland'' (House of Lochar) * John W. Purser. 1991. ''The Literary Universe of Jack B. Yeats'' (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers) * Hilary Pyle. 1987. ''Jack B. Yeats in the National Gallery of Ireland'' (National Gallery of Ireland) * Hilary Pyle. 1989. ''Jack B. Yeats: A Biography'' (Carlton Books) * T.G. Rosenthal. 1993. ''The Art of Jack B. Yeats'' (Carlton Books) * Jack B. Yeats. 1992. ''Selected Writings of Jack B. Yeats'' (Carlton Books) * Declan J Foley (2009), ed. with an introduction by Bruce Stewart,''The Only Art of Jack B. Yeats Letters and essays'' (Lilliput Press Dublin).

External links

*
Jack B. Yeats at The Model, Sligo

Cuala Press Broadside Collection, illustrated by Jack B. Yeats
is located at th
Special Collections/Digital Library
i
Falvey Memorial Library
at Villanova University.
The Only Art: Letters of JBY

The Fourth John Butler Yeats Seminar, at the Swift Theatre, Trinity College, Dublin 10–12 September 2010 details

Jack Butler Yeats' Illustrations from Punch
in HeidICON * * * *
Yeats Society Sligo

Irish Record Price for Yeats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yeats, Jack Butler 1871 births 1957 deaths 19th-century Irish painters Irish male painters 20th-century Irish painters Burials at Mount Jerome Cemetery and Crematorium

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...