JACK B. YEATS, R.H.A. | The Valley Wood

Stoppenbach & Delestre Ltd., London, where purchased by the late husband of the present owner in July 1984

The board appears to be sound and the work in good overall condition. Under ultraviolet light there appear to be no signs of retouching. Held under glass in a gilt plaster frame with a cream mount.
"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."

We are grateful to Hilary Pyle for her assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.  In the spring of 1900 when Yeats was staying in Dublin, he made several watercolours of the Rocky Valley on the border of County Wicklow, between Bray and Enniskerry (see H. Pyle, Jack B. Yeats, His Watercolours, Drawings and Pastels, 1993, nos.207-211). The present painting, depicting a stream winding through the valley floor, likely relates to this series and stands as one of his earliest known oils. Not only that, it is interesting to see Yeats focusing purely on landscape, when his career both preceding and following the present painting is by and large defined by his figurative work. It was not until 1906 that Yeats turned his attention more seriously from watercolour to oil, where in Clifden, Co. Galway, he did embark on a series of landscapes of which only one now exists. In 1913 in Kerry, Yeats had his most productive period of non-figurative landscape, which surface again in a series of works at Skibbereen from 1919 but thereafter he only painted occasional, single views of landscapes.