Jack Butler Yeats, R.H.A.

Purchased from the artist in 1942 by the previous owner's grandfather, John Whelan Dulanty, and thence by descent; 
Their sale, Christie's, London, 10 May 2007, lot 91, where purchased by the present owner 

London, Allied Artist's Association, 1910;
Dublin, Leinster Hall, Pictures of Life in the West of Ireland, 1910, no.41;
Paris, 1911;
New York, Armory, International Exhibition of Modern Art, 1913;
London, Walker Art Gallery, Pictures of Life in the West of Ireland, 1914, no.28

H. Pyle, Jack B. Yeats: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings, Vol. I, 1992, no.15, p.16

Original canvas. The work appears in good overall condition, ready to hang. Under ultraviolet light, there is small area of retouching in the background between the bucket and the leg of the figure, also another small area to right of the signature. A couple of minor flecks along left edge. Held in a gilt plaster frame.
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In this highly atmospheric, early oil painting from 1910, Jack Butler Yeats depicts the solitary figure of a Corinthian – a sobriquet from Regency times used to describe rakes or men-about-town – standing in a boxing ring. Yeats described the Corinthians as ‘those noble supporters of the Ring’, although here the tone is wistful as the Corinthian stands alone; in front of him hang the gloves of a recent fight while the supporters are long gone. The subdued palette heightens the poignant and nostalgic atmosphere as the figure, in faded glamour, recalls the former glory of years gone by.

Yeats was born in London and revelled in the rowdy experiences of travelling circuses, the theatre and sporting events which entertained the city. In the 1890s he worked for sporting weeklies, honing his ability to capture moments with swift and lively sketches. The inspiration for the present work came from Yeats’ visits to Wonderland, an East End boxing booth in Whitechapel which staged boxing matches, bare-knuckle and gloved, from the 1890s until 1911, when it mysteriously burnt down. It had a tiny 12-foot ring and was packed nearly every Saturday night with a lively crowd. Yeats was always drawn to strong characters throughout his career, and the Corinthian is one such. Comparable compositions of individual type-figures include Race Card Seller (1909) and The Jockey (1910). These were among the first oils Yeats did as he made the transition from watercolour, and indeed from 1910 he was to abandon watercolours altogether.

It is interesting to note The Last Corinthian was exhibited at the Allied Arts Association in London in 1910. The A.A.A. was formed in 1908 by art critic Frank Rutter with the support of Walter Sickert, Spencer Gore, Lucien Pissarro, Walter Bayes and Wilson Steer. It was modelled on the Parisian Salon des Indépendants and run as an independent venue without a select committee. It provided a forum for the development of new ideas at a time when the Modernist movement was emerging, and became an important showcase for both British and foreign artists. The Last Corinthian would have confidently held its own amongst the progressives exhibiting there. Sickert and Yeats had in fact struck up a friendship by this time; Sickert had admired Yeats’ ability to draw boxing scenes and held a high regard for his work, in particular his technique of elevating the central position of the human figure, rather than it taking an anecdotal place within a composition. Both artists shared an intense interest in the life and bustle of the streets, the theatre and choosing working men as regular subject-matter which is reflected in the work they produced at this time.

The Last Corinthian stands at a critical juncture within Yeats’ career. It was at the end of 1910 that the artist made his permanent relocation to Ireland, determined to define a role for himself there, ‘to possess or be possessed by it’ (Bruce Arnold, Jack Yeats, 1998, p.166). The present work thus occupies a significant period, demonstrating both the influence of his illustrative career on his early oils and anticipating the paintings that were to follow shortly after, notably his seminal group of twelve figurative works that illustrated the book, Irishmen All, in 1913. The painting also offers a strong counterpoint between these early descriptive, pared down oils to the loose and expressive work that defined his work from the mid-1920s onwards.

The Last Corinthian remained with Yeats until 1942, perhaps serving as a memory of his youth in London. It was then bought from him by John Whelan Dulanty (1883-1955), a friend of both Jack and William Yeats, George Bernard Shaw and James Joyce. Born to Irish parents in Manchester, Dulanty had a distinguished political career playing a central role in Irish and UK affairs. He served as Irish commissioner for the Irish Free State in the United Kingdom and when the Fianna Fáil party was victorious in 1932, Dulanty provided the chief diplomatic conduit between the two governments. ‘Mr Dulanty is thoroughly friendly to England’ Churchill remarked, ‘he acts as a general smoother, representing everything Irish in the most favourable light.’ Following the declaration of a republic in 1949, Dulanty became the first Irish ambassador to the court of St. James.