Jack Butler Yeats (Irish, 1871-1957) The Train through the Wood 23.2 x 36.2 cm. (9 1/8 x 14 1/4 in.) (Painted in 1925)Jack Butler Yeats (Irish, 1871-1957)The Train through the Wood signed 'JACK B YEATS' (upper right) and titled 'THE TRAIN THROUGH/THE WOOD' (verso)oil on panel23.2 x 36.2 cm. (9 1/8 x 14 1/4 in.)Painted in 1925ProvenanceHarry Hall (acquired at the 1928 exhibition)With Arthur Tooth & Sons, LondonPrivate CollectionPeter O'Toole, LondonSale; Christie's, London, 10 May 2007, lot 92Private Collection, U.K.ExhibitedDublin, Engineer's Hall, Jack B. Yeats, October 1925, cat.no.29London, Arthur Tooth & Sons, Jack B. Yeats: Paintings, March-April 1928, cat.no.19Dublin, R.H.A. Gallagher Gallery, Jack B. Yeats, February-March 1995, cat.no.6Manchester, City Art Galleries, Jack B. Yeats: A Celtic Visionary, March-April 1996, cat.no.1; this exhibition travelled to Leeds, City Art Gallery, April-June 1996, Belfast, Ormeau Baths Gallery, June-July 1996LiteratureHilary Pyle, Jack B. Yeats, A Catalogue Raisonné of Oil Paintings I, André Deutsch, London, 1992, p.249, cat.no.275 (ill.), and III, p.117, cat.no.275 (ill.)Richard Gray (ed.), Jack B. Yeats: A Celtic Visionary, City Art Gallery, Manchester, 1996, p.9This atmospheric painting by Yeats captures a train journey through bright, leafy woods, the shifting leaves which can be seen through the windows providing a contrast to the dark interior of the carriage. The carriage appears ornate and even luxurious, harking back to a time when train travel was an exciting excursion, the windows of the carriage providing a moving picture and view of the world which was out of the ordinary, and Yeats renders the scenery beyond the carriage windows and its almost golden light with a deft hand. Taking inspiration from everyday life, Yeats would return to the train carriage and its passengers for subsequent paintings, including Man in a Train, Thinking (1928) and Looking Forward, Looking Back (1945). This painting was formerly in the collection of the famous actor Peter O'Toole, best known for his portrayal of T.E. Lawrence in the film Lawrence of Arabia in 1962. O'Toole's collection of Modern British Art also extended to works by Epstein, Gaudier-Brzeska, Scottie Wilson and Alfred Wallis (sold in these rooms 20 June 2021).