Irish Art

My next post is on Irish art as I am Irish and looking back it probably should have been my first post because of this! Irish art dates back to stone carvings which were found at new grange, they date back around 5,200 years. Celtic art is also often associated with Ireland through artifacts such as the book of Kells. Ireland is also home to many famous current artist such as Brian O'Doherty. But for this post I am going to focus on the works of one Irish artist in particular who I greatly admire, Jack Yeats.

Jack Butler Yeats was born on 29th August 1871 and died on the 27th March 1957. He is the son of John Butler Yeats who is also a famous artist and brother to W.B.Yeats who is a famous writer. Yeats grew up in the Irish countryside with his grandparents in Sligo but moved to London where his parents were later. An unusual fact about him is that he won an Olympic medal in painting. 

Jack B Yeats
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jan/05/yeats-sketch-to-be-sold

In terms of his artwork, Jack B Yeats progressed through many different styles. Early in his career he worked a lot with illustration and drew for a few magazines and also comic strips. As he got older he progressed into a completely different style involving a lot of symbolism and expressionist art. The subjects of his art were primarily Irish and sometimes involved political feelings often as his was a Irish Republican. But he is most well known for his landscapes, horses and circus scenes. This stage of his artwork began quite simplistic but later developed to a point where he would use a lot of paint very thickly to create lots of texture. He was also very interested in the use of colour which you can see in his works.

The Liffey Swim - Jack B Yeats
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/8866530488366432/