Original Mixed Media Work on Paper
Fred Yates (1922 to 2008) - Mixed Media on Paper
“A Steamship, Waverley”
A highly characterful original mixed media work on paper by Fred Yates, depicting PS Waverley, the famous Clyde paddle steamer and one of Scotland’s best-loved historic vessels.
Key Details
Artist: Fred Yates (1922 to 2008)
Title: A Steamship, Waverley
Medium: Mixed media on paper
Signature: Signed lower right
Artwork Size: 18.5 × 40 cm (7.3 × 15.7 in)
Framed Size: 42.5 × 64 cm (16.7 × 25.2 in)
Frame: Black box frame with mount
Condition: Very good overall condition, artwork and frame
Subject: PS Waverley paddle steamer
PS Waverley is the world’s last seagoing passenger-carrying paddle steamer and remains in active excursion service, including sailings on the Clyde and around the British coast.
Yates presents the vessel in clear side profile, with her twin red funnels, paddle wheel, rigging and bold hull picked out against a vivid blue sea and sky. The work has the direct, decorative quality associated with Yates, combining simplified form, strong colour and a warm, affectionate treatment of a popular subject.
For Scottish buyers and maritime enthusiasts, Waverley is not a generic ship subject. She is a highly recognisable Clyde icon, familiar to generations of passengers and collectors of Scottish coastal and maritime history.
The result is a distinctive crossover piece with appeal to collectors of Fred Yates, Scottish maritime history, Clyde nostalgia, Waverley, paddle steamers and British naïve art.
About the Artist
Fred Yates was born in Urmston, Lancashire, in 1922. After wartime service with the Grenadier Guards, he returned to Manchester and worked as a painter and decorator before training at Bournemouth College of Art.
He later taught for many years before giving up teaching in 1969 and moving to Cornwall to paint full time. Yates developed a distinctive, direct and highly individual style, often associated with naïve, outsider and modern British painting.
His subjects included Cornish villages, harbour life, street scenes, landscapes, figures and the everyday life of ordinary people. His work combines simplified forms, expressive colour and a strong sense of human warmth.
He had his first solo exhibition at Reynolds Gallery in Plymouth in 1976 and was a finalist in the John Moores Prize in the same year. He later exhibited widely, including with Thompson’s Gallery and John Martin Gallery in London. His work is held in a number of public and private collections.
Provenance and Notes
Previously with Hansons. Signature lower right.
The combination of a listed modern British artist, a highly recognisable Scottish maritime subject and a strong framed presentation makes this an especially appealing piece for both art and maritime collectors.
