Yeats the younger becomes Ireland's face on commemorative silver coin
HE WAS the first Irish recipient of an Olympic Medal following the formation of the Irish Free State. Yet it's not in sporting circles that one of Ireland's best-loved painters, Jack B Yeats, is remembered.
The little-known fact about Jack, younger brother of the Nobel-prize winning poet Wiliam Butler, was retold last week as the legendary artist became Ireland's face on a new commemorative silver ten euro coin.
It was Summer 1924, in Paris, when Yeats won his Olympic Silver medal in the arts and culture segment for his iconic painting The Liffey Swim. Born in London, the Yeats family spent much of their time in Sligo, which left a lasting impression on both brothers and their work. Much of Jack B's illustrations and paintings depict landscapes and another of his great loves, horses. It is fitting then that the coin - launched in Dublin last week by the Central Bank - portrays Yeats glancing at a galloping horse.
Speaking on behalf of the Yeats' estate, Catríona Yeats, grand-niece of the artist, said: ' The Yeats family is delighted that Jack B. Yeats will be pictured on the coin. Michael Guilfoyle's design is impressive and striking in its simplicity and the coin is a fine tribute to Jack B.'
The coin, Ireland's contribution to the 2012 European Silver Coin Programme, sees Eurozone member states produce their own collector's item celebrating a European artist. There will be 12,000 coins issued by the Central Bank, priced €46 each.
