John Butler Yeats Paintings & Artwork for Sale | John Butler Yeats Art Value Price Guide

Sep. 25, 2024
JOHN BUTLER YEATS (1839-1922) R.H.A
Est: €1,000 - €1,200
Self Portrait. Pencil sketch. Provenance: Yeats family collection. Framed. PICTURES AND PRINTS Wednesday 25th September 2024 Approximate Time 16:02:15
Sheppards
Jul. 17, 2024
JOHN BUTLER YEATS RHA (1839-1922)
Est: €800 - €1,200
Lily in the garden. Pencil sketch. From the artists Rowney sketch books.
Sheppards
Jul. 17, 2024
JOHN BUTLER YEATS R.H.A (1839-1922)
Est: €900 - €1,200
Lily & Loccy Yeats. Pencil sketch.
Sheppards
May. 01, 2024
JOHN BUTLER YEATS R.H.A. (1839 - 1922)
Est: €700 - €800
The Artists wife. Susan Polexfan. Pencil sketch.
Sheppards
Apr. 30, 2024
JOHN BUTLER YEATS RHA (1839-1922)
Est: €800 - €1,200
Lily Yeats. Pencil sketch.
Sheppards
Mar. 27, 2024
John Butler Yeats (1839-1922) An Irish Cabin Monochrome watercolour and bodycolour, 25 x 17cm (9¾ x 6¾) Signed with initials Provenance: Sale, Sotheby's London 21/11/73; where purchased by the present owner
Est: €2,000 - €3,000
John Butler Yeats (1839-1922) An Irish Cabin Monochrome watercolour and bodycolour, 25 x 17cm (9¾ x 6¾) Signed with initials Provenance: Sale, Sotheby's London 21/11/73; where purchased by the present owner
Adam's
Mar. 05, 2024
JOHN BUTLER YEATS R.H.A. (1839 - 1922)
Est: €800 - €1,200
Grandfather Clock. Pencil sketch. Framed. Image size: 19 x 11 cm.; framed: 47 x 39 cm. PICTURES AND PRINTS Approximate Time 15:06:44
Sheppards
Dec. 05, 2023
JOHN BUTLER YEATS R.H.A. (1839-1922)
Est: €500 - €550
Pencil sketch. Caricature sketch of Jack Butler Yeats. (Irish Art) 50 cm. high; 46 cm. wide; Image: 15 cm. high; 10 cm. wide; Approximate Time: 15:26 Lot Number: 369
Sheppards
Sep. 27, 2023
JOHN BUTLER YEATS RHA (1839 - 1922)
Est: €800 - €1,200
Lily Yeats. Pencil sketch. Approximate Time: 11:49 Lot 650
Sheppards
May. 10, 2023
Self-Portrait
Est: €3,000 - €5,000
John Butler Yeats 1839 - 1922 Self-Portrait pencil on paper unframed: 49.5 by 36cm., 19½ by 14¼in. framed: 78.5 by 66cm.; 31 by 26in. Executed circa 1911. __________________________________________________________________________ John Butler Yeats 1839 - 1922 Auto-Portrait crayon sur papier sans cadre: 49.5 by 36cm., 19½ by 14¼in. avec cadre: 78.5 by 66cm.; 31 by 26in. Exécuté vers 1911.
Sotheby's
May. 10, 2023
JOHN BUTLER YEATS R. H. A. (1839 - 1922)
Est: €800 - €1,200
Caricature of Jack Butler Yeats. Pencil sketch. Additional sketch verso. Framed. Provenance: From the artist's sketch books Yeats Family Collection. (Lot 912)
Sheppards
May. 10, 2023
JOHN BUTLER YEATS R. H. A. (1839 - 1922)
Est: €800 - €1,200
Lily Yeats. Pencil sketch. Framed. Provenance: From the artist's sketch books Yeats Family Collection. (Lot 682)
Sheppards
May. 10, 2023
JOHN BUTLER YEATS R. H. A. (1839 - 1922)
Est: €1,000 - €1,200
The Yeats Family. Pencil sketch. Framed. Provenance: From the artist's sketch books Yeats Family Collection. (Lot 622)
Sheppards
May. 09, 2023
JOHN BUTLER YEATS R. H. A. (1839 - 1922)
Est: €800 - €1,200
Lily Yeats. Pencil sketch. Framed. Provenance: From the artist's sketch books Yeats Family Collection. (Lot 484)
Sheppards
Apr. 18, 2023
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) The Mandolin Player
Est: €2,000 - €3,000
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) The Mandolin Player charcoal heightened in white on paper h:28 w:25.50 cm. Provenance: Yeats Family Collection; Private Collection
Morgan O'Driscoll
Mar. 01, 2023
JOHN BUTLER YEATS (1839 - 1922) R. H. A.
Est: €1,000 - €1,500
Self Portrait. Pencil sketched. Dated and inscribed. Framed. Provenance: From the Artist's sketch books, Yeats family collection.
Sheppards
Mar. 01, 2023
JOHN BUTLER YEATS (1839 - 1922) R. H. A.
Est: €800 - €900
Boating on the River. Pencil sketch. Dated July 30th 1919. Framed. Provenance: From the artist Rowney sketch books, Yeats family collection.
Sheppards
Feb. 28, 2023
JOHN BUTLER YEATS (1839 - 1922) R. H. A.
Est: €700 - €800
Lily Yeats. Pencil sketch. 2nd sketch verso. Framed. Provenance: From the artist Rowney sketch books, Yeats family collection.
Sheppards
Dec. 06, 2022
JOHN BUTLER YEATS R.H.A. (1839 - 1922)
Est: €800 - €900
The Garden Shelter. Pencil sketch. Provenance: From the Artist's Rowney sketchbook/Yeats family collection.
Sheppards
Sep. 28, 2022
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) In The Library (possibly Lily reading) Pencil, 24 x 17cm (9½ x 6¾) Provenance: The Yeats Family; Sale, Sotheby's, London, 'The Yeats Family Collection', 27th September 2017, lot 43
Est: €1,000 - €1,500
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) In The Library (possibly Lily reading) Pencil, 24 x 17cm (9½ x 6¾) Provenance: The Yeats Family; Sale, Sotheby's, London, 'The Yeats Family Collection', 27th September 2017, lot 43
Adam's
Jun. 01, 2022
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Portrait of Lily Yeats Pencil, 24 x 18.5cm (9½ x 7¼'') Inscribed 'Lily Yeats' Provenance: The artist's family; their sale, Sotheby's, London 27/9/2017, lot no.151.
Est: €4,000 - €6,000
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Portrait of Lily Yeats Pencil, 24 x 18.5cm (9½ x 7¼'') Inscribed 'Lily Yeats' Provenance: The artist's family; their sale, Sotheby's, London 27/9/2017, lot no.151.
Adam's
Jun. 01, 2022
John Butler Yeats (1839-1922) Study of a Lady Pencil, 27 x 22cm (10¾ x 8¾) Signed
Est: €4,000 - €6,000
John Butler Yeats (1839-1922) Study of a Lady Pencil, 27 x 22cm (10¾ x 8¾) Signed
Adam's
Apr. 28, 2022
JOHN BUTLER YEATS R.H.A. (1839 - 1922)
Est: €700 - €800
Jack Butler Yeats. Pencil sketch. Provenance: From the Artist's Sketchbook.
Sheppards
Apr. 26, 2022
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Self Portrait (1920)
Est: €3,000 - €5,000
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Self Portrait (1920) pencil drawing signed and dated 1920 h:46.50 w:37.50 cm. Provenance: Yeats Family Collection; Private Collection In the last decade of his life, John Butler Yeats returned repeatedly to the theme of self-portraiture. Many of these he sketched in pencil (probably a black chalk/graphite pencil), but there are also several in oil on canvas, with the artist adopting different poses and allowing himself time to experiment with backgrounds and colour. The theme of self-portrait had been suggested, and indeed commissioned, by lawyer and art patron John Quinn in 1911, as a means whereby the relatively impoverished Yeats, who had arrived in New York four years earlier, could support himself financially. The father of artist Jack B. Yeats, poet W. B. Yeats, and also of Elizabeth and Susan Yeats, who ran the Cuala Press in Dublin, John Butler Yeats was born in 1839 in Co. Down. He initially studied law in Dublin, but decided to up sticks and move with his wife and children to London, to study art. Over the following years, Yeats moved back and forth between London and Dublin, struggling to establish himself as a portrait painter. The American lawyer and patron John Quinn helped him settle in Dublin, and in 1901 he had a joint exhibition with Nathaniel Hone. The following year, Hugh Lane commissioned Yeats to paint a series of portraits of people influential in the Irish literary revival. Dating from 1920, this self-portrait was done when John Yeats was advanced in years, and beginning to suffer ill-health; his son William Butler had arrived in New York in January of that year, to begin a tour of north America. While W. B. went on to Toronto and Quebec, his wife George remained in New York, where she visited her father-in-law daily. When John Butler Yeats died two years later, in his boarding house in New York City, an unfinished self-portrait, in oil on canvas, was on his studio easel (it is now in the Niland Collection in Sligo). This self-portrait in pencil (probably conte pencil rather than graphite) is a preparatory drawing for the unfinished painting, and reveals how Yeats was moving towards a more Expressionist-or Post-Impressionist-approach in the last years of his life. A comparable self-portrait, also in soft black pencil, is in the National Portrait Gallery in London. Peter Murray, March 2022
Morgan O'Driscoll
Apr. 26, 2022
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Lily Yeats (1891)
Est: €1,000 - €1,500
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Lily Yeats (1891) pencil drawing signed, titled and dated 1891 h:27.50 w:22.50 cm. Provenance: Yeats Family Collection; Private Collection This portrait of Mary Susan "Lily" Yeats, daughter of John Butler and Susan (née Pollexfen) Yeats, dates from 1891, when the sitter was twenty-five years old. Yeats has used a soft black pencil, probably a chalk/graphite pencil, with great sensitivity and skill. Sitting upright in an armchair, dressed in a fashionable late Victorian dress with puffed sleeves, Lily gazes straight ahead. There is little detail in terms of background, and the chair, made of ornate carved wood, is lightly indicated, as is the lower part of her dress. Born in Enniscrone, Co. Sligo, in 1866, Lily was one of four children of John and Susan Yeats; her siblings were William, Jack, and Elizabeth ("Lolly"). Her father sketched and painted Lily on many occasions; in the Niland Collection there is a portrait of her, aged about ten. Much of Lily's early life was spent in Sligo, until in 1874 she joined her brothers and sister in London. Four years later, the family moved to Bedford Park, the new Arts and Crafts garden suburb at Chiswick. In 1881 she moved to Dublin, enrolling, with her sister Elizabeth, at the Metropolitan School of Art. Returning to England, Lily then stayed with her aunt and invalid mother in Huddersfield, before rejoining her family in Bedford Park in 1888. She studied embroidery with May Morris, daughter of William Morris, before becoming an embroidery teacher herself, at William Morris & Co. Frequently prone to ill-health, Lily contracted typhoid in France in 1896. She settled in Dublin some years later, co-founding the Dun Emer Guild, where she ran the embroidery section and supervised and made banners for Loughrea cathedral. In 1904, the enterprise divided into the Dun Emer Guild and Dun Emer Industries, with Evelyn Gleeson running the former, and the Yeats sisters taking on the latter. Four years later the sisters founded Cuala Industries and Cuala Press. In 1931 Lily again fell ill, due to overwork. The embroidery section of Cuala Industries was wound up and Lily continued to work on her own, before her death in 1949. Peter Murray, March 2022
Morgan O'Driscoll
Mar. 07, 2022
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) PORTRAIT OF A MAN, THOUGHT TO BE JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE
Est: €8,000 - €12,000
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) PORTRAIT OF A MAN, THOUGHT TO BE JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE oil on board signed lower right h:12.25 w:9.25 in. Provenance: Private collection, UK; Bonham's, 9 February 2011; Private collection Originally suggested to be of John Millington Synge but further research has failed to confirm that attribution.
Whyte's
Oct. 26, 2021
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Self Portrait (1905)
Est: €1,000 - €1,500
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Self Portrait (1905) pencil drawing signed lower right and dated 1905 h:24 w:17.50 cm. Provenance: Yeats Family Collection; Private Collection
Morgan O'Driscoll
Oct. 26, 2021
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Portrait of George Pollexfen (The artist's brother-in-law)
Est: €3,000 - €5,000
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Portrait of George Pollexfen (The artist's brother-in-law) oil on canvas h:77 w:64 cm. Provenance: Yeats Family Collection; Private Collection Although unfinished, like so many of John Butler Yeats's paintings, this portrait is a fine work of art. The fact that the sleeves and jacket are sketched in adds to the painting's qualities, and perhaps reflects Yeats's awareness of the limitations of conventional portrait painting, as compared with the idealistic art goals he had set for himself. Against a background of grey, the head of George Pollexfen is rendered with consummate skill, with Yeats conveying well the sensitive and yet determined expression of his brother-in-law. Merchants and traders in Sligo, the Pollexfens were never convinced at John's choice of career, and in works such as this, he may have been seeking to convince them of his abilities as an artist. The son of a Church of Ireland rector, John Butler Yeats was born in 1839 in Co. Down. After attending Atholl Academy-where George Pollexfen was also a pupil-he was educated at home while living with his Pollexfen relatives. In 1863 he married a cousin, Susan Pollexfen. In 1867, against the wishes of his wife and family, he abandoned a career as a barrister in Dublin, and moved to London, enrolling at Heatherley's Academy of Art, and later at the Slade School, where he studied under Edward Poynter. For many years John Yeats struggled to make a living. Initially he was friends with Pre-Raphaelite artists George Wilson, John Trivett Nettleship and Edwin Ellis, and was one of the group known as "The Brotherhood", but was later influenced by French art, and admired the work of George Frederick Watts. For a time, his wife Susan and their children were obliged to live in Sligo with her relatives, while John tried to make a living in London. On visits to Sligo, he painted and sketched portraits of other relatives, including Isabella and Elizabeth Pollexfen. Peter Murray, September 2021
Morgan O'Driscoll
Oct. 26, 2021
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Under Candlelight
Est: €1,000 - €1,500
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Under Candlelight watercolour heightened in white h:29.50 w:17.50 cm. Provenance: Yeats Family Collection; Private Collection
Morgan O'Driscoll
Sep. 29, 2021
John Butler Yeats (1839-1922) Portrait of a Young Fashionable Lady Seated Pencil, 35 x 24.5cm (13¾ x 9½) Signed and dated March 1902
Est: €3,000 - €5,000
John Butler Yeats (1839-1922) Portrait of a Young Fashionable Lady Seated Pencil, 35 x 24.5cm (13¾ x 9½) Signed and dated March 1902
Adam's
Jul. 31, 2021
JOHN BUTLER YEATS (IRISH 1839-1922)
Est: $500 - $700
JOHN BUTLER YEATS (IRISH 1839-1922) Portrait of a Child pencil on paper 17 x 13 cm (6 3/4 x 5 18 in.) PROVENANCE Gift of the artist to Ernie O'Malley, 1935 Collection of Ernie O'Malley (1897-1957), Irish Republican Army officer and Literary Figure, and husband of Helen Hooker (1905-1993) Thence by descent in the family CONDITION Unframed, the work appears in age-appropriate condition. Visible surface soiling to the left center edge. Minor toning to the perimeter. Hinged along top edge. dimensions of matte: 30 x 25.4 cm (11 3/4 x 10 in.) N.B. All lots are sold in as-is condition at the time of sale. Please note that any condition statement regarding works of art is given as a courtesy to our clients in order to assist them in assessing the condition. The report is a genuine opinion held by Shapiro Auctions and should not be treated as a statement of fact. The absence of a condition report or a photograph does not preclude the absence of defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of any others. Shapiro Auctions, LLC., including its consultants and agents, shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.
Shapiro Auctions LLC
Jun. 02, 2021
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) - Portrait of a Woman
Est: €5,000 - €8,000
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Portrait of a Woman Watercolour, 33 x 24cm (13 x 9½'') Signed and dated 1906 Starting Bid: € 3500
Adam's
Jun. 02, 2021
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) - Portrait of Nathaniel Hone
Est: €500 - €700
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Portrait of Nathaniel Hone Pencil, 14.5 x 10.5cm (5¾ x 4'') Starting Bid: € 350
Adam's
Oct. 27, 2020
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Repose
Est: €1,000 - €1,500
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Repose watercolour signed lower right and titled top left h:25 w:15 cm. Provenance: Yeats family collection; Private Collection
Morgan O'Driscoll
Oct. 27, 2020
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Self Portrait
Est: €1,000 - €1,500
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Self Portrait pencil drawing h:16.50 w:12.50 cm. Provenance: Yeats Family Collection; Private Collection
Morgan O'Driscoll
Oct. 27, 2020
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Music's Golden Tongue
Est: €2,000 - €3,000
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Music's Golden Tongue black and grey wash with white highlights signed lower left and titled verso h:22 w:17 cm. Provenance: Yeats Family Collection; Private Collection Exhibited: Possibly Dublin, Royal Hibernian Academy, 1900; Dublin, 6 St Stephen's Green, A Loan Collection of Pictures by Nathaniel Hone and John Butler Yeats, October - November 1901; New York, Albany Institute of History & Art, The Drawings of John Butler Yeats, 11 April - 31 May 1987, no.14, illustrated Literature: 'The Drawings of John Butler Yeats' by Fintan Cullen (exhibition cat.), 1987, p.25 Depicting a young woman and a man playing a concertina is a preparatory study for John Butler Yeats 'Music's Golden Tongue', c.1893-94 - a full-page illustration he produced for the family magazine 'Leisure Hour', vol.43, 1984, p.546. It is likely that Lily Yeats was the model for the girl.
Morgan O'Driscoll
Apr. 14, 2020
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Reflecting
Est: €800 - €1,200
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Reflecting watercolour and pencil h:29.50 w:20.50 cm. Provenance: Yeats family collection; Private Collection
Morgan O'Driscoll
Apr. 14, 2020
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Young Girl with Sea Shell
Est: €800 - €1,200
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Young Girl with Sea Shell watercolour and pencil h:23 w:14.50 cm. Provenance: Yeats Family Collection; Private Collection
Morgan O'Driscoll
Mar. 09, 2020
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) VIEW FROM A BOAT
Est: €800 - €1,000
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) VIEW FROM A BOAT
Whyte's
Mar. 09, 2020
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) GREAT UNCLE
Est: €800 - €1,000
inscribed lower left
Whyte's
Mar. 04, 2020
JOHN BUTLER YEATS, R.H.A. (1839-1922)
Est: €600 - €900
Study of a young lady, Pencil sketch, Provenance: Sketch books from the Yeats family dispersal sale
Sheppards
Mar. 03, 2020
JOHN BUTLER YEATS, R.H.A. (1839-1922)
Est: €500 - €800
Female studies. Sketch. Provenance: Yeats family sketch books dispersal sale
Sheppards
Dec. 02, 2019
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN
Est: €1,000 - €1,500
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN
Whyte's
Dec. 02, 2019
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) NELLY WHELAN READING
Est: €1,000 - €1,500
inscribed [Nelly Whelan] lower right
Whyte's
Nov. 25, 2019
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN
Est: €700 - €1,200
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN
Whyte's
Nov. 25, 2019
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) COUPLE IN A RESTAURANT
Est: €700 - €1,200
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) COUPLE IN A RESTAURANT
Whyte's
Nov. 25, 2019
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) WOMAN IN A HAT
Est: €700 - €1,200
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) WOMAN IN A HAT
Whyte's
Oct. 21, 2019
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Portrait of a Seated Lady
Est: €800 - €1,200
John Butler Yeats RHA (1839-1922) Portrait of a Seated Lady watercolour and pencil on paper h:23 w:14 cm. Provenance: Family of the artist; Fonsie Mealy Chatsworth Sale, The Yeats Collection; Private Collection
Morgan O'Driscoll