Jack B. Yeats, Irish, 1871-1957
Title: For the Road
Date: 1951
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
61 x 92 cm
Signed: lower right: Jack B. Yeats
Credit Line: Presented, 1978
Object Number: NGI.4309
ProvenancePurchased through Victor Waddington Galleries, London, Mr and Mrs F. L. Vickerman, Dublin, March 1952; presented, Private Collection, 1978
Exhibition HistoryAn Tóstal: Irish Paintings 1903-1953, Municipal Gallery, Dublin, April - July 1953
Loan Collection, Mound Galleries, Edinburgh, 1957
Loan Collection, Town Hall, Sligo, 14-27 August 1961
Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte: La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, July - October 1962
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
Loan Collection, Mound Galleries, Edinburgh, 1957
Loan Collection, Town Hall, Sligo, 14-27 August 1961
Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte: La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, July - October 1962
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
Label TextYeats displayed a great affection for horses throughout his career. Horses feature prominently in his work, from his earliest watercolours of life in the west of Ireland to his later, more esoteric paintings. In this picture, a spectral horse gallops from the shadows of a wood towards a bright, distant opening, in which a figure in silhouette stands waiting. Skilfully foreshortened, the horse embodies freedom of movement, expressive energy and positive intent. An optimistic painting, it can be read as an allegory of life.