Another Chance
Artist: Jack B. Yeats (Irish | British, 1871-1957)
Date: 1944
Dimensions:
H: 36 in. (91.4 cm); W: 48 in. (121.8 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1949.15
Label Text:"When I begin a painting I think I’m in control, but after a while the paint controls me, and as I go on, we work together…the title comes later."
Brother of renowned poet William Butler Yeats (1865–1939), Jack Butler Yeats was during his lifetime as celebrated in Ireland for his painting as his brother was for his poetry. This dramatic painting of a survivor at sea was made during a period of intense creativity for the artist, who was then in his 70s. His method of painting at this time often involved squeezing the paint from the tube directly onto the canvas or applying it with a palette knife or even his thumbs to achieve a churning, active surface of thick swirls and dabs of color.
The great Irish playwright Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) was a strong advocate of Yeats’ work, writing, “Yeats is with the great of our time... because he brings light, as only the great dare to bring light, to the issueless predicament of existence.”
Brother of renowned poet William Butler Yeats (1865–1939), Jack Butler Yeats was during his lifetime as celebrated in Ireland for his painting as his brother was for his poetry. This dramatic painting of a survivor at sea was made during a period of intense creativity for the artist, who was then in his 70s. His method of painting at this time often involved squeezing the paint from the tube directly onto the canvas or applying it with a palette knife or even his thumbs to achieve a churning, active surface of thick swirls and dabs of color.
The great Irish playwright Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) was a strong advocate of Yeats’ work, writing, “Yeats is with the great of our time... because he brings light, as only the great dare to bring light, to the issueless predicament of existence.”
Not on view
In Collection(s)