25th May 2004

This summer the Hunt Museum will hold a major exhibition celebrating the work of one of Ireland's most famous painters, Jack Butler Yeats. The exhibition is exciting and unique as most of the works included are borrowed from leading private collections. The public will get a rare opportunity to see works which normally are unavailable for viewing. The exhibition will run from June 15th until Sept. 26th 2004. Speaking at the press launch this mornng, Director, Virginia Teehan, said, "This is a very exciting exhibition. We are really grateful to those who have so generously supported us by lending works or through sponsorship. Some of the pictures on display haven't been exhibited in Ireland for many years and even leading Yeats scholars haven't had the chance to see these pictures. Also, this is the first Yeats exhibition to be held in Limerick since 1945, it's wonderful that we can host this show and including such important examples of his work".

Ms. Teehan also said "The Hunt Museum plays a central role in the promotion of Limerick and the Mid West. It works to support the strategic development of the city and strives to complement cultural and business interests in the city and region. Since its establishment seven years ago the Museum has had considerable success in its operation it is the current holder of the title Irish Museum of the Year".

The exhibition will include 39 examples of Yeats' work from watercolours, to pencil drawings and oils. The works span a period from 1896 to 1961. This exhibition will highlight Yeats' genius and originality illustrating the development of his style. It is the first Yeats exhibition to be hosted in Limerick since 1945.

Jack B. Yeats Master of Ceremonies will be supplemented by an extensive educational programme aimed at schools and the general public. These programmes will make a worthwhile contribution to ongoing Yeats scholarship and Irish art in the 20th century. A varied calendar of social events and activities will also complement the exhibition.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The Hunt Museum
Since opening in 1997 the Hunt Museum has established a very fine visiting exhibition programme and this year from June 16th to September 26th works by Jack B. Yeats, Ireland's greatest visual artist, will be on show. The exhibition is entitled Jack B. Yeats: Master of Ceremonies and most of the works included are from major Irish private collections. Usually these works are unavailable for public viewing. Indeed, some of the works have never been exhibited in Ireland. This will be the first Yeats exhibition to be hosted in Limerick since September 1945 when the artist exhibited seventeen works, painted between 1925-1945, at Goodwin Galleries in William Street. Goodwin & Co. played a very important part in the promotion of Irish art from the 1940's through to the 1970's. The 1945 exhibition was opened by Rev. M. Moloney P.P. who said about Jack B. Yeats '... can we ask more of him than that he ring a bell in our minds or that he leaves us spell bound in sharing his emotion?'.

Jack B. Yeats
Jack B. Yeats (1871-1957) was the son of portrait painter John Butler Yeats and Susan Pollexfen and the brother of the poet William Butler Yeats. He spent his boyhood years from the age of eight to sixteen in Sligo with his maternal grandparents. In 1887 he returned to London to live with his parents at Earls Court and studied at a number of different art schools. The following year he established himself as an illustrator for journals and other publications. In 1894 he began recording his observations and ideas in a sketch book rather than in a diary. By the end of the century he was painting watercolours using recollections of his boyhood at Rosses Point in Sligo.

In 1894 Jack B. Yeats married fellow artist Mary Cottenham White from Devon, who was known to everyone as 'Cottie'. The couple moved back to Ireland in 1910 settling first in Wicklow and then in Dublin. Yeats was elected a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin in 1916. He exhibited frequently in Dublin, London, Boston, New York and Paris. He also wrote novels and plays, the novels using the stream of consciousness method with little emphasis on plot. Three of Jack B. Yeats' plays were produced at The Abbey Theatre.

Yeats' subject matter was always Irish and he believed that 'the true painter must be part of the land and of the life he paints'. He had no pupils and nobody was allowed to watch him work nor was he given to discussing his technique with others. Soem of his favourite themes were horses, donkeys, the circus, clowns and travelling players. The style in which he depicted Irish life and Irish identity was a new departure in Irish painting. Although sympathetic to the republic cause, Yeats was not politically active.

Yeats did not work regularly in oils until 1906 and it has been suggested that it was Yeats' more explorative use of oil which enabled him to realize his genius. He often abandoned the brush and squeezed paint directly onto the canvas or used a palette knife or on occasions used the pointed end of the brush to produce a stippling effect. Yeats gave serious consideration to the artistic power of colour. In later years Yeats moved from illustrative and descriptive painting and became more preoccupied with the subjective and symbolic. Themes such as the loneliness of the individual soul and the universality of the plight of mankind pervade his later work. When Jack B. Yeats died in 1957 Samuel Beckett wrote 'Yeats is the great of our time ... he brings light as only the great dare to bring light to the issueless predicament of existence.'

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT E: Naomi@huntmuseum.com T: 061 312 833

ENDS