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Artist: Jack Butler Yeats RHA (1871-1957) Title: Gathering Seaweed, Mayo Coast (1909) Signature: signed 'JACK B YEATS' lower left Medium: oil on board Size: 23 x 35½cm (9.1 x 14in) Framed Size: 41.5 x 54.5cm (16.3 x 21.5in) Provenance: Sold by the artist to Dr F. Murray, Dublin, 1928; James Adam Salesrooms, Dublin, 8th September 1977, Lot 73 (reproduced); Private Collection Exhibited: 1910 Dublin (23); 1911 Dublin Aonach; 1912 London (21); 1914 Dublin Arts Club; Jack B.Yeats and Paul Henry - Contrasting Visions of Ireland, The Hunt Museum, Limerick, 2nd June-30th September 2017 Literature: Life in the West of Ireland (1912) 99 (reproduced); "Jack B.Yeats - A Catalogue Raisonne of the Oil Paintings" by Hilary Pyle, No.9, p.10 (reproduced); "Jack B.Yeats and Paul Henry - Contrasting Visions of Ireland", Published by The Hunt Museum, Limerick, illustrated. a#morebtn { color: #de1d01; } a#morebtn:hover { cursor: pointer;} In the west of Ireland, large quantities of seaweed are often washed onto the shore during storms, and for generations this has been harvested to provide a source of fertiliser. Up to the mid-twentieth century, people would bring horses and carts ont... Read more In the west of Ireland, large quantities of seaweed are often washed onto the shore during storms, and for generations this has been harvested to provide a source of fertiliser. Up to the mid-twentieth century, people would bring horses and carts onto the beach, to collect seaweed, which they used as manure to enrich fields and gardens. Seaweed was also burned, the ash providing a source for chemical compounds such as sodium and potassium nitrates-the latter, saltpetre, is an ingredient in making gunpowder. Iodine, used in medical treatments, could also be extracted from seaweed ash. From the early nineteenth century onwards, seaweed gathering became a favourite subject for artists in Ireland. The Kelp Gatherers by Samuel Lover dates from 1836, while J. M. Kavanagh's 1895 Carting Seaweed on Sutton Sands is in the National Gallery of Ireland. Henry Jones Thaddeus depicted seaweed gathering in the west of Ireland, as did Paul Henry and Nathaniel Hone This painting of harvesting seaweed was painted by Jack B. Yeats in 1909, and reproduced as a monochrome plate in his book Life in the West of Ireland, published three years later. A relatively early work by Yeats, the painting conveys vividly the struggle by country people to maintain and improve their smallholdings. Under a cloudy sky, waves breaking around him, the man pulls seaweed from the sea, piling it onto a horse-drawn cart. Just below the horizon, a thin green line indicates a field, with a sandy cliff below leading to the shore. In the foreground are dark rocks, silhouetted against the white surf. The colour range, mainly greys and browns, is enlivened with the bright dash of orange and purple seaweed piled high on the cart. In the years after 1905, Yeats travelled extensively in Mayo and Galway, largely as a result of having been commissioned, by The Manchester Guardian, along with John Millington Synge, to produce a series of articles on life in the West of Ireland. For these articles, Synge provided the texts, and Yeats the illustrations. Yeats also produced illustrations, including one of a woman carrying a large basket of seaweed, for Synge's book The Aran Islands, published in 1907. During these years, exhibitions of paintings by Yeats were held regularly in London and Dublin, and in 1904, the American lawyer John Quinn organised an exhibition of his work in New York. Gathering Seaweed was first exhibited in Dublin in 1910. Between 1908 and 1915, Yeats was also occupied with editing and providing texts and illustrations for a monthly publication called A Broadside. A sense of drama infuses Yeats's art, and there is often a literary quality to his paintings and prints, many of which illust