€100,000 - €150,000
Jack Butler Yeats RHA (1871-1957) The Paddock, Naas (1927) Oil on board, 23 x 35cm (9 x 14) Signed Provenance: Sold in 1930 to Dr. F. Murray, New York; Sale, these rooms, September 1977, lot 68; Collection of Reeta and Frank Hughes, Warrenpoint, thence by descent. Exhibited: Dublin, Engineer's Hall, 1927; London, Alpine Club Gallery, 1929 Literature: Hilary Pyle, 'Jack B. Yeats, A Catalogue Raisonne of the Oil Paintings' cat.no.352, p.320 This small vibrant painting depicts a couple visiting the paddock at Naas Racecourse. Yeats was very fond of race meetings, of observing the horses, the jockeys and the crowds. In this work, a man leads a fine chestnut horse close to the railings. The animal's large majestic head turns to gaze down at his human companion. On the far side another horse is being led with a figure following on. The buildings of the racecourse dominate the background. Naas Racecourse had recently opened in 1924 but had already established its reputation as a fashionable venue for race goers. Stylish ladies visited the paddock, according to contemporary newspaper accounts. One noted that 'Lady McCalmont, in a large moleskin coats and felt hat; Lady Mahon, in a red leather coat and black hat, Lady Ainsworth in a coat of antelope fur and tweed suit' were among the illustrious callers. The lady in Yeats's painting, is also fashionably attired and her companion with his bowler hat and prominent moustache invokes an air of affluence. But the focus of the work is undoubtedly the captivating presence of the horse. The lively application of paint, especially in the dynamic form of the steed, evokes movement. This element combined with the complex and intricate building up of the green ground and the white sky create an absorbing exercise in paint. The geometric shapes of the railings and background buildings form a framing device around the central circular motif of the paddock, the two horses mirroring each other. But none of the elements in the painting seem to be fixed, instead due to the way in which Yeats has produced them, they appear erratic and fluid. This is a vigorous exercise in painting as well as a sharply observed encounter between man and beast. Dr Róisín Kennedy, May 2026 1. Evening Herald, 6 January 1927.
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