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Jack Butler Yeats
THE WATERFALL
Lot 26
Price Realised:
€135,000
Estimate:
€140,000 - €180,000
Jack B. Yeats RHA, 1871-1957
THE WATERFALL, c.1924
Oil on canvas, 18" x 24" (45.7 x 61cm), signed.
Provenance: Victor Waddington Galleries, Dublin where purchased by Mrs. C. S. Collinson (1942) and by descent Captain C. S. Collinson (1945); Jose... Read more
Lot 26
Jack Butler Yeats
THE WATERFALL
DVTV Click Here To View VideoTHE WATERFALL, c.1924
Oil on canvas, 18" x 24" (45.7 x 61cm), signed.
Provenance: Victor Waddington Galleries, Dublin where purchased by Mrs. C. S. Collinson (1942) and by descent Captain C. S. Collinson (1945); Jose... Read more
Lot 26
Jack Butler Yeats
THE WATERFALL
Estimate:
€140,000 - €180,000
Jack B. Yeats RHA, 1871-1957
THE WATERFALL, c.1924
Oil on canvas, 18" x 24" (45.7 x 61cm), signed.
Provenance: Victor Waddington Galleries, Dublin where purchased by Mrs. C. S. Collinson (1942) and by descent Captain C. S. Collinson (1945); Joseph H. Hirshhorn whereby presented to the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C., 17 May 1966 (label verso); their sale, Sotheby's, London, 10 May 1989, lot 157; Cynthia O'Connor, Dublin; Christie's, Dublin, 6 June 1990, lot 116; Theo Waddington Fine Art, London (label verso); Private Collection.
Exhibited Dublin, Engineer's Hall, Pictures of Life in the West of Ireland, March - April 1924, no.39; Dublin, National College of Art, National Loan Exhibition, June - July 1945, no.38.
Literature: H. Pyle, Jack B. Yeats: A Catalogue Raisonne of the Oil Paintings, Vol. I, London, 1992, p. 207, no. 232, illustrated.
Thick vegetation dominates the composition of Jack B. Yeats's The Waterfall in which a young couple walk under a cascading waterfall amid a verdant glen. This is the Glencar Waterfall, located about eight miles from Sligo town, in county Leitrim. The waterfall flows into the lake of Glencar, inland from Drumcliffe, where Yeats's grandfather has been rector for many years and where his brother, W.B. Yeats is buried. The Yeats siblings visited Glencar regularly as children when they stayed with their grandparents in Sligo. W.B. Yeats used the location as a setting for his poem, The Stolen Child.
Where the wandering water gushes
From the hills above Glen-Car,
In pools among the rushes
That scarce would bathe a star, …. (W.B. Yeats, The Stolen Child, 1886).
Glencar Waterfall appears in several works by Jack B. Yeats, most famously as the backdrop to In Memory of Boucicault and Bianconi, (1937, National Gallery of Ireland) and in Glencar, Co. Sligo, (1949, Private Collection). Hilary Pyle connects the subject of this painting, The Waterfall, to Yeats's The Riverside (Long Ago), (1923, Ulster Museum) in which a similar fashionably attired man and woman chat to a boatman at the waterside in Sligo. The refined costumes and demeanour of the couple in The Waterfall contrast with the thick wild vegetation that surrounds them, making them appear as incongruous intruders into an untamed jungle. But the graceful pose of the woman, who carries a bright blue umbrella rather than a gun or stick, suggests a reverence towards nature and the power of the water that rushes down above her. The blue and pink tones of her dress, and the blue tones of the suit and tie of her companion, subtly resonate with the touches of bright pink and yellow in the shrubbery. A diagonal of pale open space connects the vertical shaft of the water with the heads of the figures. The terrain is known for its wild garlic and rhododendrons and the dynamic and varied application of paint used in the foliage conveys the damp sensuousness of the woodland as well as its overgrown and untamed appearance. Its rich and dynamic texture contrasts with the sedate elegance of its urbane visitors. The combination of pure landscape with the delineation of contemporary costume and manners makes this an exceptional work in Yeats's oeuvre. It relates closely, however, to the exploration of modern life in Yeats's other works of the 1920s and is, at one level, a witty portrayal of the tourist in search of sensory experiences.
Dr. Roisin Kennedy
October 2021
THE WATERFALL, c.1924
Oil on canvas, 18" x 24" (45.7 x 61cm), signed.
Provenance: Victor Waddington Galleries, Dublin where purchased by Mrs. C. S. Collinson (1942) and by descent Captain C. S. Collinson (1945); Joseph H. Hirshhorn whereby presented to the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C., 17 May 1966 (label verso); their sale, Sotheby's, London, 10 May 1989, lot 157; Cynthia O'Connor, Dublin; Christie's, Dublin, 6 June 1990, lot 116; Theo Waddington Fine Art, London (label verso); Private Collection.
Exhibited Dublin, Engineer's Hall, Pictures of Life in the West of Ireland, March - April 1924, no.39; Dublin, National College of Art, National Loan Exhibition, June - July 1945, no.38.
Literature: H. Pyle, Jack B. Yeats: A Catalogue Raisonne of the Oil Paintings, Vol. I, London, 1992, p. 207, no. 232, illustrated.
Thick vegetation dominates the composition of Jack B. Yeats's The Waterfall in which a young couple walk under a cascading waterfall amid a verdant glen. This is the Glencar Waterfall, located about eight miles from Sligo town, in county Leitrim. The waterfall flows into the lake of Glencar, inland from Drumcliffe, where Yeats's grandfather has been rector for many years and where his brother, W.B. Yeats is buried. The Yeats siblings visited Glencar regularly as children when they stayed with their grandparents in Sligo. W.B. Yeats used the location as a setting for his poem, The Stolen Child.
Where the wandering water gushes
From the hills above Glen-Car,
In pools among the rushes
That scarce would bathe a star, …. (W.B. Yeats, The Stolen Child, 1886).
Glencar Waterfall appears in several works by Jack B. Yeats, most famously as the backdrop to In Memory of Boucicault and Bianconi, (1937, National Gallery of Ireland) and in Glencar, Co. Sligo, (1949, Private Collection). Hilary Pyle connects the subject of this painting, The Waterfall, to Yeats's The Riverside (Long Ago), (1923, Ulster Museum) in which a similar fashionably attired man and woman chat to a boatman at the waterside in Sligo. The refined costumes and demeanour of the couple in The Waterfall contrast with the thick wild vegetation that surrounds them, making them appear as incongruous intruders into an untamed jungle. But the graceful pose of the woman, who carries a bright blue umbrella rather than a gun or stick, suggests a reverence towards nature and the power of the water that rushes down above her. The blue and pink tones of her dress, and the blue tones of the suit and tie of her companion, subtly resonate with the touches of bright pink and yellow in the shrubbery. A diagonal of pale open space connects the vertical shaft of the water with the heads of the figures. The terrain is known for its wild garlic and rhododendrons and the dynamic and varied application of paint used in the foliage conveys the damp sensuousness of the woodland as well as its overgrown and untamed appearance. Its rich and dynamic texture contrasts with the sedate elegance of its urbane visitors. The combination of pure landscape with the delineation of contemporary costume and manners makes this an exceptional work in Yeats's oeuvre. It relates closely, however, to the exploration of modern life in Yeats's other works of the 1920s and is, at one level, a witty portrayal of the tourist in search of sensory experiences.
Dr. Roisin Kennedy
October 2021
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In the event of a tied bid, the preference will be given to the bid submitted first. The second bidder will receive immediate notification of being outbid.
PLEASE BID EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT.
In order to allow rival bidders the opportunity to respond to a late bid the following extensions will apply:
IF A BID IS RECEIVED WITHIN THE FINAL 45 SECONDS OF THE COUNTDOWN THE CLOCK WILL RESET TO 60 SECONDS.
At any point you can leave a maximum bid, representing the highest price you are prepared to pay for a particular lot. Bidding only advances when there is competition from a rival bidder. In that case the system bids on your behalf, only up to the maximum if required. All bids are relayed to you be email, along with notification if you have been outbid.
All maximum bids are confidential and not disclosed. The system will endeavor to purchase the lot for you for the least price. Bids are subject to buyer’s premium of 25% (incl vat), with no additional charges.
In the event of a tied bid, the preference will be given to the bid submitted first. The second bidder will receive immediate notification of being outbid.
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