The Omagh/Sligo Joint Cultural Events project is pleased to present an exhibition of Portraits by John Butler Yeats from The Niland Collection at Omagh’s Strule Arts Centre. This unique exhibition is open to the public from Friday 7th December to Friday 4th January.

This delightful exhibition from The Model Arts and Niland Gallery in Sligo features 19 portraits by John Butler Yeats. Mostly executed in pencil, the portraits have as their subjects many important figures from early 20th Century Irish life. Featuring a great many people from literary and political circles, such as John O’Leary, Lady Augusta Gregory and Douglas Hyde, the portraits beautifully capture the individuality and personality of each sitter. His portraits have been praised for their great sensitivity to the sitter, and many critics consider his portrait of John O'Leary to be his masterpiece.

John Butler Yeats was born in 1839 in Tullylish near Laurencetown in County Down. At the age of 69 he moved to New York where he became friendly with members of the Ashcan school of painters. Interested in modernism he was a
member of the Society of Independent Artists, as well as an Irish organisation, the Hibernian Academy. While in New York his career flourished and he was noted for his portraits of well-known New Yorkers of the time. John Butler Yeats never returned to Ireland and died in New York City in 1922. He is buried in the Chestertown Rural Cemetery near Lake George in upstate New York.

Renowned art critic, scholar and noted biographer Dr Hilary Pyle will be presenting a lecture on the works of John B Yeats as part of this exciting exhibition. Dr Pyle, who is also a former curator of the Yeats Museum in The National Gallery of Ireland, will present her lecture on Tuesday 11th December at 8.00pm and admission is free.

Dr Hilary Pyle penned what is considered to he the definitive biography of this great Irish artist, Jack B. Yeats, A Biography. Hilary is a long term and active member of the International Art Critics Association and lectured in Irish and European art history at University College Cork. Returning to Dublin in 1993 she was appointed curator of the Yeats Museum and director of the archives. She has presented important exhibitions of Yeats's work in Sligo, Dublin and Monaco and produced the accompanying catalogues.

As part of the John Butler Yeats Exhibition and the Omagh/Sligo Joint Cultural Events Project, local artist Helen McFarland will be delivering a series of workshops on the art of portraiture for children and adults. She will be exploring free expression, identity and symbolism, as well as giving participants a hands-on educational experience of art in a gallery context. Unfortunately, due to demand the workshops are fully booked.

Portraits by John Butler Yeats will be on public exhibition at Strule Arts Centre Friday 7th December to Friday 4th January, Monday – Saturday 10am – 6pm and admission is free. To book for the lecture by Dr Hilary Pyle please contact Strule Box Office on 028 8224 7831, admission to this one-off event is also free.

The exhibition and workshops are programmed as part of the Omagh/Sligo Joint Cultural Events Project. It is part financed by the European Union’s Programme for Peace & Reconciliation and supported by funding from Omagh
District Council and Sligo Local Authorities.