Life above Everything is a major exhibition that pairs the paintings of Lucian Freud and Jack B. Yeats. The exhibition runs until 21st October. Although the two artists never met, Freud had a lifelong interest in the Irish painter’s work. This incredible exhibition, presented at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (Imma) until 21st October, explores the affinities between the two masters. They dialogue and are placed side-by-side for the first time in 70 years.
David Dawson, artist and Freud’s long-time studio assistant, was instrumental in selecting the artworks and conveying Freud’s admiration for Yeats.
The result of this careful curation is the presentation of a signifcant number of oil paintings by both artists, 33 by Freud and 24 by Yeats, as well as a range of works on paper, sourced from public and private collections internationally. Loans include Girl with Roses (1947-48), Girl with Beret (1951) and Boat, Connemara (1951). Significant loans of works by Yeats include The Bus by the River (1927), People in a Street (c.1935), A Dancer (Rosses Point, Sligo) (1921), as well as From the Tram Top (c. 1925), which features one of Yeats’s rare cameos in his own work.
Further rare highlights include seven paintings by Jack B. Yeats which Freud selected for a close friend, advising him on works to acquire at auction.
