36
WHYTES
SINCE 1783
,
43
Jack Butler Yeats RHA (1871-1957)
THE COMFORTER, 1952
oil on board
signed lower right; with exhibition label on reverse
14
by 18in. (36 by 46cm)
Provenance
:
Victor Waddington Galleries, Dublin;
Mrs Jobling-Purser, Dublin;
Thence by descent;
Whyte’s, 29 November 2005, lot 84;
Private collection
Exhibited
:
’
Jack B. Yeats: Oil Paintings’, Victor Waddington Galleries, Dublin, October 1953, catalogue no. 1; ’Jack B. Yeats,
Loan Exhibition’, New Gallery, Belfast, 14-26 June 1965, catalogue no. 9; ’Irelandskt - Exhibition of Irish
Paintings: From Yeats to Ballagh’, Lunds Kansthall, Lund, Sweden, April - May 1972 (organised by the Arts
Council of Ireland / An Chomhairle Ealaíon), catalogue no. 57
Literature
:
Hilary Pyle,
Jack B. Yeats: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings
,
Andre Deutsh, London, 1992, Vol. II, page
1026,
catalogue no. 1125; also Vol. III (full page illustration, p.568)
Hilary Pyle has described this work as follows:
“
A girl with a sallow complexion, wearing a black hat, has a numb absorbed expression.The face of the man who leans
towards her, speaking gently, is brightened by the light of the sky seen above the landscape which opens beyond the wall
before which their upper parts are seen.There is a sketch for this in pencil in the final workbook.Yeats painted many
pictures of personalities in conflict or in accord, and was always interested in the psychological relationship of one person
with another. At this late stage, he may also have been considering the theological implications of the title”.
(
Pyle, op. cit., Vol. II, page 1026).
Bruce Arnold, author of
Jack Yeats
(
Yale University Press 1998) writes:
For a late work
The Comforter
has a powerful simplicity, rich colour and assured composition.The thought behind it, a
narrative of kindness offered and comfort taken from it, binds the central figures together. Both of them, though
particularly the woman, are given clear characterisation, not always so successfully done by Yeats, whose technique, so full
of the flamboyant use of impasto, created at times a riot rather than a resolution of event. Here, the emphasis that he
sought and has achieved is one of calmness and consideration.The full-face presentation of the woman is unequivocal,
though whatever grief she is holding to her heart is under a measure of control that makes the comforter’s role that
much more difficult.Yeats had three years to go, and some fabulous works to paint; yet few in the last cycle of his output
have the determination of thought and intent, as well as the control, achieved here.
Bruce Arnold HRHA
October, 2005
€
150,000-
€
200,000 (
£120,000-£160,000 approx.)