Celebrity Graveland

August 29, 1871 – March 28, 1957

Being the younger brother of one of Ireland’s most famous sons is a daunting existence. But, Jack Butler Yeats – brother to Nobel-winning poet, William – was not only up for the task, he matched his sibling punch for punch. Though he, too, found some success in writing, J.B.’s true medium was art. A talented illustrator, he moved into Expressionism and went on to become the most popular Irish painter of the 20th Century. He was celebrated for depicting, what playwright Samuel Beckett called “the issueless predicament of existence.” Meaning, Jack was able to dramatically and beautifully capture life at it’s most mundane and normal.  His 1923 painting “The Liffey Swim” won Yeats a gold medal at the 1924 Olympics because that’s apparently a thing that can happen. He also secretly contributed more than 500 cartoons to the satire magazine, Punch, under the pseudonym “W. Bird,” something he denied until his death in Dublin at the age of 85.

Burial

Mount Jerome Cemetery – Dublin, IRELAND

Specific Location

Enter the cemetery and turn right at the chapel, continue on Hawthorn Walk to the north until you reach a “Y” intersection. Veer left onto Neville’s Walk and immediately on your left there will be a marker for “Hunt”. Turn left in front of the Hunts and follow this row south and Jack’s grave will be on your right, about 15 spaces in.

This entry was posted on June 25, 2018 at 9:37 am and is filed under Mount Jerome Cemetery (IE) with tags Artists, Mount Jerome Cemetery, Painters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.