The Light of Towns

Details

Jack Butler Yeats, R.H.A. (1871-1957)
The Light of Towns
signed 'JACK B/YEATS' (lower left), inscribed 'THE LIGHT OF TOWNS' (on the stretcher)
oil on canvas
14 x 18 in. (35.6 x 45.7 cm.)
Painted in 1947.

Provenance

Purchased directly from the artist by L. Smith in 1948.
Dr J.F. McGrath, Cape Town, by 1992.

Literature

H. Pyle, Jack B. Yeats: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings, Volume II, London, 1992, p. 738, no. 816.

Special notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent. These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Lot Essay

Hilary Pyle writes, ‘Bright lights are reflected in the sky, below the clouds, coming from two towns in the distance. On a road leading to the two towns walks a man dressed in rags. Another ragged man leans against a house, his hands in his trouser pockets, facing away from the towns. ‘The artist told the owner that “as a young man he was living somewhere in England with his father. Just after dark one night he walked outside and saw lights in the distance. Hailing a policeman he enquired what the lights were and was told, ‘them is the lights of towns, sir’”. Long years after he painted the scene from memory (Dr. F. J. McGrath to author, 24 March 1967)’ (H. Pyle, op.cit., p. 738).

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