Today would have been the birthday of Irish artist John Butler Yeats (1839-1922), who with his wife Susan brought to life six children, one of whom just happened to be poet William Butler Yeats and another the painter Jack B. Yeats. The passion and words of William Butler Yeats sparked the Irish Literary Revival, and W.B. Yeats also was the first Irishman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. Jack B. Yeats developed a distinct artistic style during his long career while remaining strongly attached to his native Ireland. John Butler Yeats' daughters Lily and Lolly were creative forces as well, Lily for needlework and textiles, and Lolly for art education, bookbinding and printing. So without accusations of bosh or blarney, it can be claimed that the Yeats family truly did have quite an impact on Ireland's cultural heritage.
That said, a Happy Saint Patrick's Day to all....
I made my song a coat
Covered with embroideries
Out of old mythologies
From heel to throat;
But the fools caught it,
Wore it in the world’s eyes
As though they’d wrought it.
Song, let them take it,
For there’s more enterprise
In walking naked.
William Butler Yeats, "The Coat" (1914)
Pictured: Portrait of William Butler Yeats -- John Butler Yeats, 1900 and The Swinford Funeral -- Jack B. Yeats, 1918 (The Walters Art Museum)
