Jack B Yeats: Celebrated artist, brother of WB, and Ireland's first Olympic medallist 

An exhibition at the National Gallery marks 150 years since the birth of the great artist whose pieces were collected by such figures as James Joyce and David Bowie 

The exhibition in the National Gallery gathers 84 works by Jack B Yeats. Picture: Chancellor, Dublin 

In Jack B Yeats’ lifetime, his success as an artist was often eclipsed by the literary triumphs of his older brother, the poet William B Yeats. But his own achievements were many: he won Ireland’s first ever medal in the Olympics; his plays were produced on the Abbey stage; and his artwork was collected by the authors Graham Greene, James Joyce and Samuel Beckett.

To mark the 150th anniversary of his birth, on August  29, 1871, the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin is hosting Jack B Yeats: Painting & Memory, the most comprehensive exhibition of his paintings there has been in fifty years.