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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'SHOUTING, 1950'
- Price Realised: 1,400,000
- Sale: 29 November 2021
- oil on canvas
- 40 x 60in. (101.60 x 152.40cm)
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'REVERIE, 1931'
- Price Realised: 1,400,000
- Sale: 25 November 2019
- oil on canvas
- 24 x 36in. (60.96 x 91.44cm)
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'EVENING IN SPRING, 1937'
- Price Realised: 1,300,000
- Sale: 25 November 2019
- oil on canvas
- 24 x 36in. (60.96 x 91.44cm)
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'THE ENFOLDING NIGHT, 1947'
- Price Realised: 520,000
- Sale: 25 November 2019
- oil on canvas
- 24 x 36in. (60.96 x 91.44cm)
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'DEATH FOR ONLY ONE, 1937'
- Price Realised: 470,000
- Sale: 25 November 2019
- oil on canvas
- 24 x 36in. (60.96 x 91.44cm)
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'DISCOVERY, 1952'
- Price Realised: 380,000
- Sale: 27 May 2024
- oil on canvas
- 24 x 36in. (60.96 x 91.44cm)
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'PILOT SLIGO RIVER / PΝOLΣTA ABHANN SLIGEACH, 1927'
- Price Realised: 370,000
- Sale: 01 October 2018
- oil on canvas
- 18 x 24in. (45.72 x 60.96cm)
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'THE FIGHTING DAWN, 1945'
- Price Realised: 320,000
- Sale: 25 November 2019
- oil on canvas
- 18 x 24in. (45.72 x 60.96cm)
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'GLORY TO THE BRAVE SINGER, 1950'
- Price Realised: 290,000
- Sale: 29 May 2023
- oil on canvas
- 24 x 36in. (60.96 x 91.44cm)
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'THE MAN WITH THE WRINKLED FACE, 1944'
- Price Realised: 245,000
- Sale: 26 November 2018
- oil on board
- 9 x 14in. (22.86 x 35.56cm)
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'THE COMFORTER, 1952'
- Price Realised: 240,000
- Sale: 29 November 2005
- oil on board
- 36 by 46cm., 14 by 18in.
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'THE CHANGING DAWN, 1946'
- Price Realised: 220,000
- Sale: 26 September 2022
- oil on canvas
- 14 x 21in. (35.56 x 53.34cm)
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'THE TOP OF THE TIDE, 1955'
- Price Realised: 210,000
- Sale: 30 September 2024
- oil on canvas
- 20 x 27in. (50.80 x 68.58cm)
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'RIVER MOUTH, 1946'
- Price Realised: 205,000
- Sale: 28 April 2008
- oil on canvas
- 36 by 53cm., 14 by 21in.
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'FORGIVE HIM, 1953'
- Price Realised: 205,000
- Sale: 26 April 2005
- oil on canvas
- 51 by 69cm., 20 by 27in.
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![THE LITTLE SISTER OF THE GANG [FITZWILLIAM SQUARE], 1944 by Jack Butler Yeats sold for 200,000 at Whyte's Auctions](/images/auction/866/65235.jpg "THE LITTLE SISTER OF THE GANG [FITZWILLIAM SQUARE], 1944 by Jack Butler Yeats sold for 200,000 at Whyte's Auctions")
'THE LITTLE SISTER OF THE GANG [FITZWILLIAM SQUARE], 1944'
- Price Realised: 200,000
- Sale: 06 June 2022
- oil on canvas
- 18 x 24in. (45.72 x 60.96cm)
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'SCULLING, 1912'
- Price Realised: 190,000
- Sale: 07 December 2020
- oil on panel
- 9½ x 13Ύin. (24.13 x 34.93cm)
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'SCULLING, 1912'
- Price Realised: 190,000
- Sale: 07 December 2020
- oil on panel
- 9½ x 13Ύin. (24.13 x 34.93cm)
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'RIVER MOUTH, 1946'
- Price Realised: 180,000
- Sale: 26 September 2022
- oil on canvas
- 14 x 21in. (35.56 x 53.34cm)
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'MORNING GLORY, 1945'
- Price Realised: 175,000
- Sale: 28 May 2018
- oil on canvas
- 14 x 18in. (35.56 x 45.72cm)
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'THE DUST ON THY CHARIOT WHEEL, 1945'
- Price Realised: 160,000
- Sale: 02 December 2024
- oil on panel
- 9 x 14in. (22.86 x 35.56cm)
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'MULDOON AND RATTLESNAKE, DRUMCLIFFE STRAND, COUNTY SLIGO, 1928'
- Price Realised: 160,000
- Sale: 31 May 2021
- oil on panel
- 9 x 14in. (22.86 x 35.56cm)
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'JUSTICE, 1946'
- Price Realised: 150,000
- Sale: 04 March 2019
- oil on canvas
- 14 x 18in. (35.56 x 45.72cm)
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'JUSTICE, 1946'
- Price Realised: 140,000
- Sale: 29 May 2023
- oil on canvas
- 14 x 18in. (35.56 x 45.72cm)
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'WAITING FOR THE FERRY, LOW TIDE, 1946'
- Price Realised: 135,000
- Sale: 22 March 2021
- oil on board
- 9 x 14in. (22.86 x 35.56cm)
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'CHRISTMAS IN HENRY STREET (1945)'
- Price Realised: 130,000
- Sale: 26 April 2005
- oil on panel
- 24 by 37cm., 9.5 by 14.5in.
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'RUSTY GATES, 1948'
- Price Realised: 120,000
- Sale: 09 March 2020
- oil on board
- 14 x 18in. (35.56 x 45.72cm)
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'A PASSAGE IS REQUIRED, 1953'
- Price Realised: 115,000
- Sale: 04 March 2019
- oil on board
- 9 x 14in. (22.86 x 35.56cm)