Dimensions: support: 610 x 914 mm frame: 758 x 1058 x 70 mm
Copyright: © The estate of Jack Butler Yeats | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: Here we have Jack Butler Yeats' "Morning after Rain," held in the Tate Collections. The heavy brushstrokes create a somber mood. I’m curious, what does the materiality of this work suggest to you? Curator: Notice how the very application of paint mimics the scene – thick, almost viscous. It’s not just representation; it’s reenactment of the labor of seeing, of weathering the elements. What do you think that says about the artist’s social position? Editor: It emphasizes the working-class experience, perhaps, and the grit of everyday life? Curator: Precisely. Yeats's process becomes a form of social commentary. That is, art isn't just about what's depicted, but also about *how* it is depicted, and *by whom*. Editor: That’s given me a lot to consider; thank you. Curator: My pleasure; it's always rewarding to consider the artist's hand in conveying meaning.
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In his paintings of the early 1920s, Jack Yeats surveyed the character and activities of the ordinary people of Western Ireland. He used a bold drawing in outline that is almost caricature, which he then painted directly with strong colours. Here a man stares over the parapet of the bridge at Sligo into the muddy water of the river. His deportment and expression suggest a particular type of local character. Yeats grew up near Sligo, and knew the people well. In about 1925 Yeats took up a quite different manner of painting, with lighter colours, particularly blues, and looser shapes, and with imaginary subjects from Irish history.Jack Yeats was the younger brother of the poet W.B. Yeats. Gallery label, September 2004
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