Jack Butler Yeats RHA (1871-1957) Lough Owel from the Train (1923) Oil on board, 23 x 35.5cm (9 x 14'') Signed, inscribed with title verso Provenance: Given by the artist to Dr. Foster, Dublin...

Jack Butler Yeats RHA (1871-1957) Lough Owel from the Train (1923) Oil on board, 23 x 35.5cm (9 x 14'') Signed, inscribed with title verso Provenance: Given by the artist to Dr. Foster, Dublin 1953 Literature: '' Jack B. Yeats - A Catalogue Raisonne of the Oil Paintings'', by Hilary Pyle, London 1992, Catalogue No. 185 Jack Yeats painted several scenes of trains and trams in the 1920s which allowed him to express the sensations of movement and travelling. In this work we see a view of Lough Owel, near Mullingar, as seen through the train window. The lake, a familiar landmark on the Dublin to Sligo railway line, is delicately framed by a wooden fence and two telegraph poles and their overhead wires. These, like the train, are markers of modernity and communication. Beneath them the islands and the waters of the lake appear calm and timeless. Nature is removed from the vagaries of modern life. Yeats uses combinations of opaque greens and blues to create a mood of tranquillity which is offset by the rakish angle of the telegraph poles and wires. With its strong colours and carefully constructed composition this is a consciously modern evocation of the Irish landscape. Dr. Roisin Kennedy August 2012

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