John Butler Yeats
, Irish, 1839-1922
Title
Portrait of George Moore (1852-1933), NovelistDate1905
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
77 x 64 cm
Signedupper right: J B Yeats 1905
Credit LinePresented, Mr C. Sullivan, in memory of Mr J. Quinn, 1926
Object numberNGI.873
ProvenanceJohn Quinn; presented, Mr C. Sullivan, in memory of Mr J. Quinn, 1926
Exhibition HistoryIerse Schilders der 19e en 20e eeuw, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1951W. B. Yeats: a Centenary Exhibition, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1965
John Butler Yeats and the Irish Renaissance, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1972
Aspects of Irish Art, a Loan Exhibition; Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio, 27 January - 3 March 1974; Toledo Museum of Arts, Toledo, Ohio, 17 March - 14 April 1974; St Louis Art Museum, St Louis, Missouri, 3 May - 9 June 1974
The Abbey Theatre 1904-1979, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; Fine Art Society, London, 1979-1980
Ireland's Literary Renaissance: 20th Century Portraits, Chicago, 1980
Label TextGeorge Moore, writer and art critic, studied art in Paris in the 1870s. He was friendly with many of the leading French artists and writers of the day including Emile Zola and Edouard Manet. In 1899, Moore was involved with W.B. Yeats, Lady Augusta Gregory and Edward Martyn in establishing the Irish Literary Theatre. In 1901 he moved to Dublin with the aspiration of creating a truly Irish literature. He wrote a series of stories for translation into Irish, published as An tÚr Ghort in 1902. John Butler Yeats described Moore as ‘the most stimulating mind I ever met’.