Anne Butler Yeats
Biography of Irish Artist: Painter, Theatre Designer, Daughter of WB Yeats.

Anne Butler Yeats (1919-2001)

The Irish painter and theatre designer Anne Yeats was born in Dublin in 1919, the daughter of the poet William Butler Yeats and a niece of the painter Jack B. Yeats and botanic artist Elizabeth Yeats. She studied drawing and painting at the Royal Hibernian Academy Schools, and then worked as chief stage designer at the Abbey Theatre until 1940, before returning to painting. She took a refresher course at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art under Sean Keating. In 1947, Anne Yeats was elected to the Committee of the Irish Exhibition of Living Art.

As an artist, Anne Yeats painted brightly coloured landscapes, still-lifes, and figure paintings, in a naive expressionist style of art, using oils and mixed media. Doubtless due in part to her family connections with one of the best known artistic families of Irish culture, Anne Yeats' artwork has been exhibited widely both abroad and in Ireland with shows in America, Germany, and the Netherlands, along with the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, Taispeántas an Oireachtas. Her solo exhibitions include: Dublin Painters Gallery, Dublin (1946,48); Dawson Gallery, Dublin (1963,66); New Gallery, Belfast (1964,67); Toronto University's Canadian Association for Irish Studies (1968); Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin (1971-72); University of Winnipeg, Canada (1975); Caen, France (1979); Taylor Galleries, Dublin (1981,94); Sligo Art Gallery (1984,89); Dublin George Gallery, Mini Retrospective (1990); and Royal Hibernian Academy Gallagher Gallery, Retrospective (1995).

Anne Yeats died in 2001. A memorial exhibition of 20 paintings and drawings, including sketchbooks donated by her brother Michael Yeats, was held at the National Gallery of Ireland in 2002, the year after her death. She donated her collection of Jack B. Yeats' sketch books to the National Gallery of Ireland, enabling the creation of the Yeats Museum within the Gallery. Her paintings are held in private and public collections worldwide, including (in Ireland): The National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; The Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Dublin; The Ulster Museum, Belfast; Trinity College, Dublin; Sligo County Gallery, Sligo; The Arts Council of Ireland.

More Information About Visual Arts in Ireland

• For details of other painters and sculptors from Ireland, see: Irish Artists: Paintings and Biographies.
• For our main index, see: Homepage.
• For a personal view of the top Irish painters, see: Best Irish Artists.
• For more about designers like Anne Yeats, see: Irish Art Guide.