JACK BUTLER YEATS RHA (1871-1957) The Water Chute (1944) Oil on board, 23 x 35.5cms (9 x 14'') Signed Provenance: Purchased at the 1945 Waddington exhibition by David Finkel; Later in the...

JACK BUTLER YEATS RHA (1871-1957) The Water Chute (1944) Oil on board, 23 x 35.5cms (9 x 14'') Signed Provenance: Purchased at the 1945 Waddington exhibition by David Finkel; Later in the collection of Dr Karl Mullen; Private collection Dublin Exhibited: Jack B. Yeats exhibition, The Victor Waddington Galleries, Dublin, 1945, cat. no. 8 Jack B. Yeats - National Loan Exhibition, The National College of Art Dublin, June-July 1945, cat. no. 154 Literature: Jack B. Yeats - A Catalogue Raisonn? of the Oil Paintings, vol II, cat. no. 656 p599 The unusual subject of this work centres on a female performer dressed in a flamboyant pink costume careering down a steep water chute on a bicycle. Her arms and upper body are thrown backwards as she propels herself into the water below. In the distance a group of onlookers stand on an embankment. The dramatic diagonal sweep of the chute which is painted in vivid red and pink tones contrasts with the more static verticals and horizontals of the surrounding composition. The latter is dominated by a more sombre green and blue palette. The vertical stance of the bystanders and the stake holding up the chute provide stability in the otherwise precarious world of the circus act. The sense of fantasy is augmented in the way in which Yeats has painted the forms in an unregimented and indistinct manner. This is both suggestive of the speed of the circus act and the momentary sense of excitement which it provokes. The paint is thinly applied to reveal the panel underneath which draws attention to the construction of the painting. Like the perilous structure of the water chute and the hazardous nature of the circus act, Yeats's method of creating the work alludes to the ways in which the artist takes risks to create a vision of his imagination from the raw materials of paint and panel. Dr. R?is?n Kennedy Dublin October 2011

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