Yeats, Jack B.

views updated May 23 2018

Yeats, Jack B. (1871–1957). Painter. Brother of W. B. Yeats the poet, Jack Yeats became the best-known Irish painter of his day. He was born in London, son of a good portrait painter, and attended (sometimes) the Westminster School of Art. He began as a water-colourist and illustrator before turning to oils. Most of his life was spent in Ireland, his family originating from Sligo, about which he published in 1930. He collaborated with J. M. Synge. Yeats's work is characterized by the boldness of its drawing and the vigour of its colours. Perhaps his most immediately attractive paintings are his sketches of Irish characters, painted with gentle irony—the Race Card Seller (1909), the Lesser Official (1913), and the Steam-boat Captain (1925).

J. A. Cannon