Frederick Joseph Yates (25 July 1922 – 7 July 2008)
was an
English artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...
. Inspired by the Manchester painter
L. S. Lowry, Yates set out to paint pictures about the lives of ordinary people: " ... It is the man in the street that I'm after, whom I feel closest to, with whom I want to make friends and enter into confidence and connivance, and he is the one I want to please and enchant by means of my work". Despite his reclusive nature, his paintings combined sharp observations of people going about their daily lives with strong, impressionist colours and expressive brushwork. His paintings are included in many private and public collections including Brighton and Hove Art Gallery,
Liverpool University, the
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...
, Torquay Art Gallery and Russell Coates Gallery Bournemouth.
Biography
Fred Yates was born in
Urmston,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in 1922. He began his working life as an insurance clerk but this career was cut short by the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, during which he served with the
Grenadier Guards
The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...
. His twin brother was posted missing in action during the failed attempt to capture the bridge at
Arnhem
Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...
during
Operation Market Garden in September 1944.
The loss of his brother had a profound effect on Yates and the sense of isolation made him fearful of close relationships throughout his life. Nonetheless, it gave him the resolve to give up insurance work and, against his family's wishes, become an artist. With a serviceman's grant he enrolled at Bournemouth Teacher Training College where he received a formal education in drawing, printmaking and painting and won a scholarship to Rome. He then taught in Devon and the South Coast for the next 20 years, a profession which brought some security, but which he disliked enormously. His shyness and gentle manner made it impossible to maintain any discipline in the classroom and the only way he could keep control was to embark on painting demonstrations where he could lose himself in his work and try not to notice the pupils behind him. Nonetheless he continued painting in his own right and in 1954 came second to
L.S. Lowry for his painting of Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club in a competition organised by the
Football Association
A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...
. The painting is now in the collection of
Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. In 1957 his factory scene in oils ''The East Sussex Engineering Co Ground Floor-Shop'' was included, and as one of the handful of colour reproductions, as one of the 'Young Artists of Promise' in
Jack Beddington's book.
Cornwall
In 1968 he finally made the decision to quit teaching and become a full-time painter, moving to Cornwall where he could develop his work supplementing his income with gardening work for neighbours. Most of his early work was painted outdoors on rough boards using household paints, but his approachable style and manner earned him some notable early collectors and in 1976 he had his first solo show at the Reynolds Gallery in Plymouth and in the same year was a finalist in the John Moore's Prize. During the 1970s and 80's Yates began to gain wider acceptance and in 1992 had his first London exhibition with Thompson's Gallery.
France
Yates's solitary nature and fear of emotional entanglements made him a habitual house-mover. In the early 1990s Yates moved to France, first of all to a mill house near Beaume De Venise, then to the village of
Rancon in the Haute-Vienne, later back to Sablet in Provence, then Nyons and finally the mountain village of La Motte in the
Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône a ...
. It was during this period that Yates began to produce some of his most daring paintings, often working with huge quantities of paint applied by stick or hands. In his last years he made repeated efforts to return to England, eventually finding a small house in Frome, Somerset. It was on his journey to complete the purchase that he fell and suffered a heart attack. He died in University College Hospital and is buried in
Marazion Cornwall.
Exhibitions
Fred Yates's principal representative during his life was John Martin Gallery in London. The gallery held numerous exhibitions of Yates's work including 'Twelve Months in Provence' (2003) 'On Top of the World' (2004) and 'Muck and Brass' (2008). In 2011 Penlee House Art Gallery in Penzance organised an exhibition of his work alongside Bryan Pearce and Joan Gilchrist entitled 'Different Ways of Seeing'.
Death and memorial
Yates died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
on returning to England in July 2008. The estate was initially administered by John Martin of the John Martin Gallery. With no heirs nor a will, the UK estate is in the care of the
Government Legal Department. A Fred Yates Society has been established to assist in preserving and promoting his work. Yates is buried in Marazion graveyard overlooking
St Michael's Mount
St Michael's Mount (, meaning "Hoarfrost, hoar rock in woodland") is a tidal island in Mount's Bay near Penzance, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The island is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish and is linked to the town of Marazion ...
, a subject he painted repeatedly.
Publications
Books
* Fred Yates, John Martin, Francis Mallet, ''Fred Yates: C'est votre passion, monsieur!'' (London, White Lane Press, 2007)
* Escape to Cornwall, John Martin, "Different Ways of Seeing: The Artistic Visions of Joan Gillchrest, Bryan Pearce and Fred Yates", Axten, Janet. Penlee House Gallery. Publisher Sansom and Co (2011),
Essays
Fred Yates, Crossing the Tamar, John Martin GalleryIn His Own Little World, John Martin Gallery
Notes
External links
*
The GuardianObituary in The Guardian
Gallery with some of Yates' work
Represented the artist from 1992 until his death in 2008. See Publications.
FredYatesGallerywebsite with images and history on Fred Yates
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yates, Fred
1922 births
2008 deaths
20th-century English painters
English male painters
21st-century English painters
Grenadier Guards soldiers
English landscape painters
English modern painters
Naïve painters
People from Urmston
British Army personnel of World War II
English twins
20th-century English male artists
21st-century English male artists
Military personnel from Manchester