Richard Yarde
| Richard Yarde | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1939 Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts |
| Died |
December 10, 2011 Northampton, Massachusetts |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Boston University |
| Known for | watercolors |
| Awards |
Common Wealth Award for Fine Art (2002) Academy Award in Art from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1995) |
Richard Yarde (1939–2011) was an American artist who specialized in watercolor painting.[1] He worked on oil paintings, then switched to watercolors in 1977 and received almost immediate critical acclaim for his works that drew upon themes of African-American history, Yarde's own family history, and his struggle with kidney failure and strokes.[2]
Yarde taught art at Boston University, Wellesley College, Amherst College, the Massachusetts College of Art, Mount Holyoke College, the University of Massachusetts at Boston. From 1990-2011, he was a professor of art at University of Massachusetts at Amherst.[3]
Yarde often improvised, sometimes while listening to jazz. Several of his works were unusually large for a watercolorist, 10 by 10 feet or larger. His parents were immigrants. His father worked as a machinist. His mother was a seamstress and he recalled this as a source of inspiration, saying “There were patterns everywhere."[3] Healing was a recurring theme in his works and he drew on the images from his own x-ray scans.[1]
References
- 1 2 Richard Yarde at R. Michelson Galleries site
- ↑ Obituary: Richard Yarde, Art professor, acclaimed watercolorist, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, web site. January 18, 2012
- 1 2 Bryan Marquard. Richard Yarde, virtuoso with watercolor brush and in classroom Boston Globe, 17 Jan 2012.