Morgan O'Driscoll Irish & International Art Auction 29th April 2019

68 53 Jack Butler Yeats RHA (1871-1957) Homeward Bound (c.1905) signed “JACK. B YEATS” lower left watercolour 11 x 16cm (4.25 x 6.25in) Provenance: Private Collection €7,000-€10,000 ($7,865-$11,235) (£5,932-£8,474) A sense of movement and energy informs this watercolour by Jack Yeats, which depicts a horse galloping along a country road at night, pulling a jaunting car. The jarvey of the jaunting car stands on the footboard to the side of the carriage, as he urges the horse to greater speed. The title Homeward Bound suggests the anxiety on the part of the jarvey to get home, as darkness falls. Such jaunting cars were common in Ireland around 1900 and are still used today in scenic areas such as Killarney. Yeats depicts the country road flanked by a drystone wall, while detail of harness and reins are visible in a sepia wash that transforms the painting into a powerful, almost brooding, image, with the figure of the rider silhouetted against the pale moonlit sky. Peter Murray, March 2019