Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
The Swinford Funeral
(18th and 19th Centuries )
Jack B. Yeats, son of the portraitist, John B. Yeats (1839-1922), and brother of the poet William B. Yeats (1865-1939), is generally acknowledged as the greatest Irish painter of the first half of the 20th century. Initially an illustrator, he accompanied the writer John Millignton Synge (1871-1909) on a walking tour of Mayo County in western Ireland in 1905. A sketch made at that time served thirteen years later as the basis for this painting. The women whose brightly colored dresses contrast with the drab clothing of the other mourners are presumably Irish-Americans who have returned home. In referring to the scene in an article he wrote for the "Manchester Guardian," Synge alluded to several young women in the funeral procession who seemed by their dress to be "returned Americans."
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
C. P. Curran, 1921, by purchase [from the artist]; Mrs. Josef Solterer, United States [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; The Dawson Gallery, Dublin, Ireland [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; The Honorable Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr., Baltimore, 1975 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1987, by gift.
Exhibitions
| 2014-2016 | From Rye to Raphael: The Walters Story. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
| 1998-1999 | When Time Began to Rant and Rage: Twentieth Century Figurative Painting from Ireland. Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley. |
Geographies
Ireland, Dublin (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 9 1/8 × W: 14 1/4 × D: 1/4 in. (23.18 × 36.2 × 0.56 cm)
Framed H: 18 1/4 × W: 23 1/8 × D: 3 in. (46.36 × 58.74 × 7.62 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Honorable Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr., 1987
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.2630