The Heroes of the Flames

Details

Jack Butler Yeats, R.H.A. (1871-1957)
The Heroes of the Flames
signed 'JACK B YEATS' (lower left), signed again and inscribed 'THE HEROES OF THE FLAMES' 'By Jack B Yeats' (on the stretcher)
oil on canvas
20 x 27 in. (50.8 x 68.6 cm.)
Painted in 1929

Provenance

Purchased by the present owner at the 1943 exhibition.

Literature

H. Pyle, Jack Butler Yeats A Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings I, London, 1992, no. 383, p. 350 (illustrated).
ibid., III, p. 166 (illustrated).

Exhibited

London, Goupil Gallery, Spring Salon, 1929.
Dublin, Victor Waddington Galleries, Jack B. Yeats Later Paintings, November 1943, no. 5.
Dublin, National College of Art, Jack B. Yeats National Loan Exhibition, June-July 1945, no. 69.
Leeds, Temple Newsam House, Jack B. Yeats Loan Exhibition, June-August 1948, no. 17.
London, Tate Gallery, Jack B. Yeats Loan Exhibition, August-September 1948, no. 15: this exhibition travelled to Aberdeen, Art Gallery; and Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy.
Dublin, Royal Dublin Society, Paintings and Sculpture by Irish Artists, May 1941, no. 41.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Hilary Pyle (loc . cit.) comments on the present work: 'A fire engine passing along a Dublin street. Yeats wrote: 'Is there any thrill the same as you get standing by a fire station seeing the horse cars coming straight out with the horses jumping into their collars and a gallop together. Motor engines and ladder cars get a small faint thrill on your backbone; though having a lane in the traffic readied for them and the bells clanging helps them along' (Sligo, London, 1930).

More from IMPORTANT BRITISH AND IRISH ART

View All