WHYTE'S EXCEPTIONAL IRISH ART MONDAY 7 DECEMBER 2020

78 49 Jack Butler Yeats RHA (1871-1957) RABBITING ink signed upper right; original Dawson Gallery label on reverse 13.50 by 12in. (34.3 by 30.5cm) Frame Size: 24 by 21.5in. (61 by 54.6cm) Condition: This work appears to be in good condition. Paper is laid flat to the backing board. No rips, tears or creases apparent. Two areas of rubbing visible on close inspection. One lower right, near figure’s left hand. One along right edge by figure’s head. Provenance: Dawson Gallery, Dublin; Private collection; Whyte’s, 18 May 2009, lot 73; Private collection Yeats lived in Strete in South Devon between 1897 and 1910, after which he settled in Ireland permanently. During these 13 years Yeats was a prolific illustrator, producing images for the Dún Emer and Cuala Industries in Dublin as well as work for London based publishers. The medium and the technique of cross-hatching seen in this drawing is typical of his working method at this time. The drawing was probably made as a design for a printed illustration but it does not appear to have been published. After settling in the West Country of England Yeats became fascinated by local farming communities and his sketchbooks and watercolour paintings of the late 1890s are dominated by scenes of English rural life. From 1898 onwards Ireland becomes a more significant theme. The subject matter of this work refers to a distinctive aspect of rural life. Rabbiting is a rather humorous image of a determined hunter looking for his prey while his dog stands guard. The latter appears to be modelled on Yeats’ own dog, ‘Hooley’ who features in many of the artist’s sketches of domestic life in Devon in these years. The subject recalls another untraced work which was exhibited in London in 1897 entitled ‘When ferrets lie up and when rabbits are plentiful’, which was subsequently reproduced but has not been traced (See note 1). A print of the latter was sold through Whyte’s as lot 26, 29 November 2005. The dominant trunk of the tree which forms the background to the scene is very stylised and indebted to the current vogue for Art Nouveau which Yeats experimented with in his graphic work of the 1890s. The drawing appears to date to an early period in the artist’s development as a black and white illustrator before he had fully developed a distinctive style and approach. It shows his knowledge of Post-Impressionist art and design and his skill at creating vibrant and complex images from very simple subject matter. Dr. Róisín Kennedy Notes: 1. H. Pyle, Jack B. Yeats. His Watercolours, Drawings and Pastels , Irish Academic Press, 1993, nos. 46-7, p. 63 €6,000-€8,000 (£5,330-£7,110 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot49