Richard Yarde

Richard Foster Yarde (American, 1939-2011)

Born in Boston to Barbadian parents, Yarde studied at Boston University (BA, 1962; MFA, 1964) and taught widely, including at UMass-Amherst (1990-2011). A 1976 NEA Fellow, his watercolor paintings addressed aspects of African American life, especially dancing and twentieth-century celebrities. He also explored his own personal history, including his two-decade struggle with a terminal disease. His vibrantly colored figurative paintings vibrate with action and emotion and are set against a grid – reminiscent of the quilts made by his grandmother.

Important Source Material:

Yarde, Richard and Alexander Eliot. Richard Yarde's The Savoy Ballroom. [S.l.]: Savoy Associates, 1986.

Yarde, Richard. Richard Yarde, Recent Works. New York, NY: Studio Museum in Harlem, 1979.

NHS