Fred Yates British, 1922-2008

Fred Yates was an English painter born in Urmston, Lancashire in 1922. Inspired by the Mancunian Master 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 Yates’ reclusive nature, his paintings combined sharp observations of people going about their daily lives with strong, impressionist colours and expressive brushwork.

 

Yates served with the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War and after the loss of his twin brother he found the courage to begin a new career as an artist rather than return to being an insurance clerk. He received a serviceman's grant and enrolled at Bournemouth Teacher Training College where he received a formal education in drawing, printmaking and painting and won a scholarship to Rome. 

 

Yates went on to teach art for the next 20 years, a profession that brought him security but one he did not particularly enjoy. In 1968 he finally made the decision to quit teaching and he became a full-time painter. 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.

 

His paintings are included in many private and public collections including Brighton and Hove Art Gallery, Liverpool University, the University of Warwick, Torquay Art Gallery and Russell Coates Gallery Bournemouth.