Martin's Dream (For Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Artist Richard Foster Yarde (American, 1939–2011)

Date2002

Mediumwatercolor

Dimensionssheet: 101.6 x 101.6 cm (40 x 40 in.)

ClassificationsWatercolors

Credit LineSarah C. Garver Fund

Terms

Object number2004.49

Label TextIn this virtuosic display of watercolor technique and unconventional combination of the imperfect grid, abstract visual codes, and figural elements, Richard Yarde pays homage to an icon of African-American history – Martin Luther King, Jr. Four directional markers and surrogates for King in the form of shoes and hats like those worn by the leader in his marches throughout the country provide orientation in an expanse of darkness. The image also acknowledges the importance of memories, dreams, and prayer not only in King’s private life and public acts, but also in Yarde’s personal life and art following a life-threatening illness in the 1990s. Appropriating the power of coded languages like those historically practiced by African-Americans for preservation and protection, Yarde incorporated passages of dots that reference both abstract patterns and symbolic languages (DNA, acupuncture points, aboriginal dreamtime, Braille). "Us Them We":Referencing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech in its title, Yarde’s expansive watercolor defies the traditional use of the medium for landscapes and still lifes. The symmetrical repetition of colors and shapes form a patterned grid within which the artist rendered four hats and four pairs of shoes, like those worn by King during his civil rights marches. The directional markers emphasize the sweep of King’s influence and his extensive travels on behalf of freedom and justice for Black Americans. The geometric shapes, code-like dots, and fields of brown, show his capacity to use abstraction to depict the intangible and unknowable quality of dreams.ProvenanceRichard Yarde, Amherst, MA

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