Yvonne Scott , Jack B. Yeats: Old and New Departures

Irish University Review: a journal of Irish Studies, Autumn-Winter, 2008 by Jeannie McCollum

Yvonne Scott (editor), Jack B. Yeats: Old and New Departures. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2008. 137 pages. EUR 55.00.

This book is a result of a symposium held by the Irish Art Research Centre (TRIARC) in Trinity College, Dublin to accompany the exhibition, Jack B. Yeats: Amongst Friends, which took place at the Douglas Hyde Gallery in 2004. The exhibition was held in honour of Victor Waddington (Yeats's dealer since 1943) and presented by his son Theo in association with Bruce Arnold, Yvonne Scott, and the University.

This publication takes a significantly different approach from the somewhat more celebratory accounts of Yeats's work to date. A much more critically considered reassessment of Yeats is late in emerging and the discourse compiled here goes some way towards redressing the balance. The volume comprises a number of short essays, based on papers delivered at the 2004 symposium. It embraces various aspects of Yeats's work ranging from subject matter, technique, patronage, and the positioning of Yeats within the international arena.

A transcript of Nicholas Robinson's opening speech, which launched the exhibition in 2004, places Yeats in context. In Ireland during the mid-1940s and 1950s, Robinson's father, Howard, knew both Yeats and Waddington well and was part of a larger social group that included the restaurant owner, Louis Jammet, and the collector, Serge Phillipson. Robinson's introductory speech serves to highlight some of the progress made within the discipline of Irish art history, juxtaposing the conservative nature of the art world in Ireland at that time and more recent progress towards establishing an Irish art research centre, which has culminated in the setting up of TRIARC within Trinity College.

The relative lack of encouragement for modern artists in Ireland during the early to mid-twentieth century is the subject of the contributions made to this compilation by both Bruce Arnold, keynote speaker at the symposium and one of the curators of the 2004 exhibition, and Riann Coulter. Arnold singles out the period following the Easter Rising (post-1916) as being particularly oppressive for artists, whilst Coulter discusses the vital role played by Victor Waddington in nurturing the early careers of many young artists, amidst a climate of relative sterility and conservatism towards the arts in general and modern art in particular.

The continuous emphasis on the need to consider Yeats's work in context is one of the main characteristics of this book. One example is provided by Sighle Bhreathnach-Lynch who, in referring to the representation of women in Yeats's paintings, comes to the conclusion that even Yeats absorbed the societal norms of the day, isolating women within their own social space. Too many accounts to date have tended to position the artist as remote from all historical, cultural, and political influences, frequently resulting in the perception of Yeats's work as autonomous or apolitical. This argument, of course, opposes the view that the work could be interpreted as nationalist and politically charged, given his frequent alignment with Irish republicanism. This desire to 'depoliticize' Yeats, or in some way remove his work from its original context, is considered in an article by Roisin Kennedy, current Curator of the Yeats archive, as a possible attempt to reclaim him from his national identity. Whilst Kennedy perceives such 'depoliticization' as vital to a more unbiased understanding of Yeats's aspirations, she also warns that issues concerning Irish nationalism can not be totally removed from the equation.

The nature and extent of Yeats's nationalism also becomes a recurring motif in the essays contributed by Bruce Arnold, Sighle Bhreathnach-Lynch, and Tricia Cusack. They also provide interesting revisions: Bhreathnach-Lynch suggests that Yeats's position as an 'outsider' (an Anglo-Irish Protestant, born in London) may have equipped him with a more 'distinctive vision' of Ireland as he was largely unrestricted by the limitations set by any particular indigenous group and therefore free to follow his own personal vision. There is little doubt that Yeats's 'outsider' status would certainly have provided him with a somewhat 'other' version of life in Ireland. But, even Yeats's personal vision needs to be considered in light of the various influences which impacted upon it, a point which Bhreathnach-Lynch readily acknowledges. Of course, when dealing with issues concerning Irish national identity, representations of the West of Ireland have to be considered and Tricia Cusack's article attempts an admirable deconstruction of the various ideologies which surround such representations. Whether symbolic of the desire to escape from colonialism or the alienating effects of modernity, this untainted motherland offered respite from the anxieties of life and brought one closer to a more primitive nature. Cusack identifies parallels between Yeats's depictions of the West and issues concerning modernity and bureaucracy explored in his plays. By adopting a more diverse approach to Yeats's paintings, she is able to move beyond a specifically Irish reading and draw connections between somewhat overlooked universal themes in Yeats's work, namely ethnicity, folk culture, and wider European discourse.