Augustus John, O.M., R.A.

Arthur Tooth & Sons, London, where acquired by Wright S. Ludington, 28 June 1961, and thence by descent to the present owner

STRUCTURE Original canvas. It undulates slightly along the lower edge where there is also some lifting paint and a few small spots of paint loss near the left corner. There are two faint surface abrasions left side of the upper edge. The surface is slightly dirty and may benefit from a light clean; otherwise the work appears in good overall condition. ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT UV light reveals retouchings along the lower edge, which may be a result of damp, and also a minor spot of retouching corresponding to above mentioned paint loss along lower edge. FRAME Held in a gilt composite frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Augustus John's portrait of the preeminent Irish poet William Butler Yeats is an exceptional painting that captures John's great admiration for and belief in Yeats as the ideal embodiment of a poet. The portrait was painted in 1907, when Yeats was preparing a new edition of his collected poems for publication the following year, and he wished to include a new portrait of himself by a contemporary artist as the book's frontispiece. Yeats was at the time staying in the home of the young painter Robert Gregory in Coole Park, Galway, and it was at his suggestion that the poet invited John to Galway to create his portrait. John and Yeats had met previously in informal, social situations at the Rothenstein's house in Hampstead, but Yeats had not previously served as a subject for John's work.

The present portrait displays the high esteem John held for Yeats. Viewing him as the ideal of the Celtic poet, John's ambitions with the portrait were to capture not only his physical likeness but his essence as poet and artist. With his tousled hair and strikingly pale skin emerging from the background, the painting evokes John's description of a scene of Yeats walking through the garden at Coole at night, "With his lank forelock falling over his russet brow, his myopic eyes and hieratic gestures, he was every inch a twilight poet" (Augustus John, in Michael Holroyd. "Augustus John," 1974, p.260).   

Enamoured by Yeats as a subject, this portrait is one of a few John painted at Coole on which to base an engraving for the poet's book. Yeats held an immense fondness for these oil portraits and years later wrote, "I began to feel John had found something that he liked in me, something closer than character, and by that very transformation made it visible. He found my Anglo-Irish solitude, a solitude I have made for myself, an outlawed solitude" (W.B. Yeats in Michael Holroyd, Augustus John, 1974, p.262). While Yeats chose not to include the engraved portrait based on this painting for his 1908 publication, a version of it appeared as the frontispiece for almost all subsequent editions of his poetry.

The portrait was bought from Arthur Tooth & Sons by Wright Saltus Ludington, who co-founded the Santa Barbara Museum in 1941. Knowledgable in several fields, he amassed an important  collection of modernist painting including  Matisse, Braque, Picasso, Degas, Chagall, Moore and Dali, much of which he generously donated to the museum over his lifetime.