One of the highlights of a recent trip to Ireland, was discovering the incredibly varied work of Jack Butler Yeats in the National Gallery of Ireland.
Yeats -- yes, that is the brother of poet William Butler Yeats -- is well regarded among those who know him, but not exactly a name that's dropped a lot in Art History 101. In other words, he's one of those artists who is fun to discover.
It is obviously quite a challenge to do justice to his work in this format. I will say what struck me most, aside from his loose, paint-heavy style, was his breadth. I was truly astounded that evening when I ran into the National Gallery an hour before closing to glimpse this artist that someone had recommended, only to find he had such a range of styles from quite realistic to bordering on abstract.










