- 15
JACK B. YEATS, R.H.A. | Misty Morning
Estimate
150,000 - 250,000 GBP
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Description
- Jack B. Yeats, R.H.A.
- Misty Morning
- signed l.r.: JACK B. YEATS; titled on the reverse
- oil on panel
- 23 by 35.5cm., 9 by 14in.
- Painted in 1942.
Provenance
Victor Waddington Galleries, Dublin, where purchased by Jack Toohey, Dublin in 1943;
Private collection;
Adam's, Dublin, 15 March 1989, lot 92
Private collection;
Adam's, Dublin, 15 March 1989, lot 92
Exhibited
Boston, Boston College Museum of Art, America’s Eye: Irish Paintings from the Collection of Brian P. Burns, 26 January - 19 May 1996, no.45, illustrated front cover and p.136, with tour to Dublin, Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, 19 June - 25 August 1996 and New Haven, Yale Center for British Art, 25 September 1997 - 4 January 1998;
Washington, John F. Kennedy Center, Irish Paintings from the Collection of Brian P. Burns, 13 -28 May 2000, illustrated p.106;
Phoenix, Phoenix Art Museum, A Century of Irish Painting: Selections from the Brian P. Burns Collection, 3 March - 29 April 2007, illustrated p.97;
New York, The Consulate General of Ireland, Eight Works from the Brian P. Burns Collection of Irish Art, Celebrating the Restoration of St Patrick's Cathedral, 7 March - 31 July 2014
Washington, John F. Kennedy Center, Irish Paintings from the Collection of Brian P. Burns, 13 -28 May 2000, illustrated p.106;
Phoenix, Phoenix Art Museum, A Century of Irish Painting: Selections from the Brian P. Burns Collection, 3 March - 29 April 2007, illustrated p.97;
New York, The Consulate General of Ireland, Eight Works from the Brian P. Burns Collection of Irish Art, Celebrating the Restoration of St Patrick's Cathedral, 7 March - 31 July 2014
Literature
Hilary Pyle, Jack B. Yeats, Catalogue Raisonne of the Oil Paintings, Dublin, 1992, Vol.I, no.530, p.486;
Turlough McConnell, ‘Boston College, Guardians of Irish Culture’ in Irish America Magazine, 2006, no.16, illustrated
Turlough McConnell, ‘Boston College, Guardians of Irish Culture’ in Irish America Magazine, 2006, no.16, illustrated
Condition
The following condition report has been prepared by Hamish Dewar Ltd, London UNCONDITIONAL AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE Structural Condition The panel has an even profile and is structurally sound and secure. The panel is inscribed on the reverse. Paint Surface The paint surface has an even varnish layer and inspection under ultraviolet light shows no evidence of any retouching. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in very good and stable condition. Held in a gilt plaster frame ready to hang.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."
Catalogue Note
'The sea for Yeats was life with its mysterious sensuality.' (Hilary Pyle) A bowlegged sailor stands on an unkempt quayside. He is looking out at an incoming rowing boat in which two figures sit, emerging from the pale blue-white light of a foggy day. The sailor with his confident pose, peaked cap and navy blue marine coat is the pilot, a familiar figure in Yeats’s work. This was a man of mythological dimensions whose job required great skill in navigation and sailing as well as a deep knowledge and understanding of the geography and climate of Sligo. He appears in several of Yeats’s drawings and paintings including The Lookout (Pilot House) (1910, see lot 5), Pilot, Sligo River (1927, Private Collection) and The Docks to Herself (1949, Private Collection). Hilary Pyle suggests that he is based on Michel Gillen, who worked at Rosses Point when Yeats was a child living with his grandparents in Sligo (Hilary Pyle, Jack B. Yeats. A Biography, London, 1970, p.17.) His job was to guide the merchant ships from Rosses Point along the Garavogue river to the quayside in Sligo town.
In contrast to the pilot, the figures in the boat are ghostly and difficult to decipher. A man rows at the helm and a woman sits in the prow of the vessel behind him. They, like the boat in which they are travelling, are almost translucent as if their bodies have been dissolved by the clear daylight vying with the deep sea fog that surrounds them. The shadow of another large form is barely visible beyond them, painted in chaotic strokes of white. It could be a distant headland or merely a mirage created by the extreme conditions and poor visibility of the day.
The pilot stares at the figures, appraising the safety of their journey and the difficult task of their mooring. His feet stand firm on the seaweed covered landing in which deep reds and yellows suggest lush vegetation – seaweed, shrubbery and the verdant world of the land. This dark and abundant foliage covers the iron railings of the quayside adding to the strangeness of its geography. It appears to be as exotic as the waterlogged world which the pilot and those at sea must navigate.
Róisín Kennedy
In contrast to the pilot, the figures in the boat are ghostly and difficult to decipher. A man rows at the helm and a woman sits in the prow of the vessel behind him. They, like the boat in which they are travelling, are almost translucent as if their bodies have been dissolved by the clear daylight vying with the deep sea fog that surrounds them. The shadow of another large form is barely visible beyond them, painted in chaotic strokes of white. It could be a distant headland or merely a mirage created by the extreme conditions and poor visibility of the day.
The pilot stares at the figures, appraising the safety of their journey and the difficult task of their mooring. His feet stand firm on the seaweed covered landing in which deep reds and yellows suggest lush vegetation – seaweed, shrubbery and the verdant world of the land. This dark and abundant foliage covers the iron railings of the quayside adding to the strangeness of its geography. It appears to be as exotic as the waterlogged world which the pilot and those at sea must navigate.
Róisín Kennedy