Jack B. (Jack Butler) Yeats

Born in London on August 29, 1871, and brought up largely in County Sligo, Jack B. Yeats came from a famously creative family: he was the son of painter John Butler Yeats and the younger brother of poet W. B. Yeats. He studied art in London, worked as an illustrator early on, and later settled into the painting career that made him one of Ireland’s most celebrated artists.

Yeats painted a wide range of subjects drawn from Irish life, including fairs, horse races, traveling performers, landscapes, and scenes of Dublin. Over the years his style shifted from detailed storytelling toward a freer, more experimental approach, with loose brushwork and rich color giving his later paintings their distinctive energy.

He was elected to the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1916, and his painting The Liffey Swim won a silver medal at the 1924 Olympic Games art competition in Paris. Today he is widely regarded as one of the most important Irish painters of the 20th century.