YEATS, WILLIAM BUTLER (1865-1939, Irish poet, Nobel Prize winner for Literature) PORTRAIT BY ALVIN LANGDON COBURN (1882-1966),
Lot 175
YEATS, WILLIAM BUTLER
(1865-1939, Irish poet, Nobel Prize winner for Literature)
PORTRAIT BY ALVIN LANGDON COBURN (1882-1966),
Sold for £1,440 (US$ 1,949) inc. premium

Lot Details
YEATS, WILLIAM BUTLER (1865-1939, Irish poet, Nobel Prize winner for Literature)
PORTRAIT BY ALVIN LANGDON COBURN (1882-1966),
photogravure print, proof before letters (no printed plate number or facsimile signature), head and shoulders, speaking into the camera, Yeats's name written in pencil on the mount by Coburn, tipped onto a mount different from the printed version (12½ x 9½ in), extremely fine, 93/4 x 71/4 in (24.8 x 18.4 cm), [taken for 'Men of Mark', Dublin, 24 January 1908]

Footnotes

  • Coburn recorded about this image: 'I was invited to a dinner given by Lady Gregory to Hugh Lane in honour of the opening of his Dublin Art Gallery, and at the dinner I sat directly across the table from W.B. Yeats, and thus I had an opportunity of studying him. After dinner he recited one of his own poems, and it occurred to me how very few people would have been able to do this. He seemed hardly conscious of the people as he spoke. What he did would have been a pose in anyone else, but with him it was quite natural, for Yeats is a real poet. After dinner I was introduced, and the next morning was appointed for a sitting. I remembered how he had looked reciting at the dinner table, and I asked him if he would do so again while I photographed him. Without any hesitation he began on some beautiful lines, while I flared a magnesium flash-light at intervals...this seemed the most fitting way of getting the effect of speaking in the portrait of Yeats.'

    A reviewer of Men of Mark enthused: 'The Yeats is fantastically like'. Yeats wrote of Coburn: 'Coburn, who understands photography, is celebrated in our world.'

    See note on Coburn at the end of the catalogue.
Activities
Auction information

This sale is now finished. If you are interested in consigning in future sales, please contact the specialist department. If you have queries about lots purchased in this sale, please contact customer services.

Buyers' Obligations

ALL BIDDERS MUST AGREE THAT THEY HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD BONHAMS' CONDITIONS OF SALE AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THEM, AND AGREE TO PAY THE BUYER'S PREMIUM AND ANY OTHER CHARGES MENTIONED IN THE NOTICE TO BIDDERS. THIS AFFECTS THE BIDDERS LEGAL RIGHTS.

If you have any complaints or questions about the Conditions of Sale, please contact your nearest customer services team.

Buyers' Premium and Charges

For all Sales categories excluding Wine, Coins & Medals and Motor Cars and Motorcycles:
A successful bidder at this sale will be required to pay Bonhams 1793 Limited ("Bonhams") a premium calculated as follows:
25% on the first £100,000 of the hammer price
20% on the excess of £100,001 and up to £2,000,000 of the hammer price
12% on the excess of £2,000,001 of the hammer price

VAT at 20% will be payable on the amount of the premium.

The premium is payable for the services to be provided by Bonhams in the Buyer's Agreement which is contained in the catalogue for this Sale and for the opportunity to bid for the Lot at the Sale.

Payment Notices

Payment in advance: by cash, cheque with banker's card, credit card, bank draft or traveller's cheque.

Payment at collection: by credit or debit card.

Credit card charges: a surcharge of 2% is applicable when using Mastercard, Visa and overseas debit cards.

Shipping Notices

For information and estimates on domestic and international shipping as well as export licences please contact Bonhams Shipping Department.

Similar Items