Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In this catalogue of the Yeats family collection in the National Gallery ofreland, Pyle (curator to the Yeats Museum) frames via commentary, and colornd b & w illustrations the artistic achievements of six members of threeighly creative generations: from poet William Butler Yeats' father, John, tois daughter Anne, a renowned contemporary pain

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CHOICE Review

The Yeats family occupies a unique place in the culture of Ireland. Although its most famous member, William Butler Yeats, is perhaps the country's greatest modern poet, it was his father and siblings that made their mark in the visual arts. John Butler Yeats, the patriarch, painted insightful portraits of friends and Irish notables from the Victorian and Edwardian periods. His youngest son, Jack B. Yeats, possessed a far more original artistic vision, characterized by bold colors and vigorous application of paint, which made him a significant figure in 20th-century art. Pyle, who has written the standard study of Jack B. Yeats, highlights the works in the National Gallery of Ireland. Her text is illuminating, well documented, and accompanied by dozens of splendid illustrations, most of which are in color. Included is a thorough catalog of the works detailing size, medium, provenance. Although the work of several female members of the family is included, the book concentrates on the famous father and son artists. Serviceable bibliography; family genealogy. Recommended for public and academic libraries. General; undergraduate; graduate; faculty. W. S. Rodner Tidewater Community College

Booklist Review

The greatest name in modern Irish literature is also the greatest name in modern Irish painting. The poet's father, John Butler Yeats (1839^-1922), was a master portraitist crucially influenced by Whistler, and his mature work is tonally gorgeous as well as psychologically acute. The poet's brother Jack Butler Yeats (1871^-1957) was a great landscapist whose work became ever more expressionist in treatment. The lion's share of brilliant colorplates here presents the work of these two. But all the senior Yeats' children were artistically trained, and the poet and his sisters Susan Mary (Lily) and Elizabeth Corbet (Lolly) are each represented by one colorplate and one black-and-white figure. This family album, so to speak, concludes with two works by the poet's daughter Anne. Pyle, who has published extensively on Jack Butler Yeats, gracefully combines biography and art commentary in his introduction and generous annotations to the colorplates, and he includes a chronology extending from John Butler's birth to Anne's 1995 retrospective exhibition. No Irish-tinged library should be without this handsome book. --Ray Olson