The richness of the colour Yeats uses here, from the scarlet of the table cover to the blues and greens of the wall behind is remarkable. Similarly striking are the tonal contrasts, such as that between the figure's pallid face and the dense blackness of his coat. The modelling is typically vigorous but summary, allowing details like the pictures on the wall in the background and the pen and paper on the table to emerge from the composition.
Recent Paintings, Dunthorne Gallery, London, 19 March - 15 April 1936
International Exhibition of Paintings, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 15 October - 6 December 1936
National Loan Exhibition, National College of Art, Dublin, June - July 1945
A First Retrospective American Exhibition, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, March 1951; Phillips Gallery, Washington; De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco; Springs Fine Arts Centre, Colorado; Toronto Art Gallery, Toronto; Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit; New York National Academy, New York 1951-1952
Modern Irish Painting, An Comhairle Ealaíon, Helsinki; Goteberg; Norkopping; Stockholm; Copenhagen; Bielefeld; Bonn; Saarbrucken; London; Leeds; Glasgow; Dublin; Mayo; Donegal 1969-1971
Jack B. Yeats: A Centenary Exhibition, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, September - December 1971; Cultural Centre, New York, April - June 1972
Jack B. Yeats in the National Gallery of Ireland, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 26 March - 20 April 1986