Kieran O'Boyle
Head of Ireland & Northen Ireland
Lot 48*
John Butler Yeats(Irish, 1839-1922)Portrait of Jenny Yeats 51 x 40.6 cm. (20 x 16 in.)
17 – 28 November 2023, 14:00 GMT
Dublin€6,000 - €8,000
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Kevin Gaines
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Penny Day
Head of UK and Ireland
John Butler Yeats (Irish, 1839-1922)
Portrait of Jenny Yeats
oil on canvas
51 x 40.6 cm. (20 x 16 in.)
oil on canvas
51 x 40.6 cm. (20 x 16 in.)
Footnotes
Provenance
With Jorgensen Fine Art, Dublin
Sale; Christie's, London, 17 May 2001, lot 137
Mary Hobart, London
Exhibited
London, Pyms Gallery, Friendship Portraits, 11 May-17 June 2005, cat.no.1
Literature
London, Pyms Gallery publication, The Art of a Nation, Three Centuries of Irish Painting, cat.no.15
John Butler Yeats was born in Co. Down and fathered six children, most famously including the poet W.B. Yeats and painter Jack B. Yeats. He began his career as a lawyer but took up painting in 1867 and studied at Heatherley School of Fine Art. Although there are scant records of his full catalogue, it is clear that he had no trouble getting commissions as his sketches and oils can be found in private collections throughout Ireland, England and America as well as The National Gallery of Ireland.
The present sitter depicts the artist's sister, Jane Grace or Jenny (so named after their mother), his wider family (especially his children) were to be a core inspiration throughout his career. Very little is known about Jenny's life, she hardly features in her brother's correspondence, but she died age 92 shortly before WW2 and this work can be dated to the early 1890s. As such, it is a relatively rare oil from his London period. This strongly composed painting shows Jenny on a visit to London and although dressed and seated formally, she is clearly at ease in her brother's presence through her direct gaze and relaxed hands. Behind her, we catch a glimpse of an oriental screen and, indeed, W.B. Yeats recorded in his autobiography that the family home in Bedford Park was decorated in the aesthetic style with 'peacock blue'. The contrast between the exotic far east and the buttoned up present is marked, deliberate even.
