Yeats, John Butler (1839-1922), an Irish painter and writer, was the father of Jack Butler Yeats, a noted painter, and William Butler Yeats, a famous writer. He traveled twice to London to seek his fortune as a painter. He had some success as a portrait painter but never became fashionable. In 1908, he immigrated to New York, where he became known for his brilliant essays and conversation. Yeats’s Letters to His Son, W. B. Yeats, and Others, 1869-1922 provides a vibrant portrait of cultural life in Ireland, London, and New York City during his adult lifetime.
John Butler Yeats was born on March 16, 1839, in Tullylish, County Down. He studied law but never practiced as a barrister. Yeats died on Feb. 2 or 3, 1922.
