Jack B. Yeats
, Irish, 1871-1957
Title
The Islandbridge RegattaDate1925
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
46 x 61 cm
Signedlower left: Jack B. Yeats
Credit LineBequeathed, Mr R. Best, 1959
Object numberNGI.1409
ProvenancePurchased from the Artist, Richard Irvine Best; bequeathed, Mr R.I. Best, 1959Exhibition HistoryJack B. Yeats: Paintings of Ireland, Ruskin Galleries, Birmingham, 1927Jack B. Yeats: Paintings, Engineers' Hall, Dublin, 1931
Jack B. Yeats: Paintings of Irish Life, Leger Galleries, London, 1932
Jack B. Yeats: National Loan Exhibition, National College of Art, Dublin, 1945
Jack B. Yeats in the National Gallery of Ireland, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1986
Yeats at the Hugh Lane Gallery of Modern Art, Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Dublin, 1988
Images in Yeats, Centre de Congres, Monaco; National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1990
Label TextSince 1922 the Dublin University Boat Club’s annual regatta has been held at Islandbridge, on the River Liffey in Dublin. Despite the fact that the location is just two miles upstream of the city centre, it appears rural with verdant banks. Yeats conveys the excitement of the event through the use of rough brushstrokes and by focusing on the onlookers crowded along the bank. The picture marks a move on Yeats's part towards a freer, more expressive style, beyond reportage to a more subjective and romantic vision of life.