Watercolor on smooth wove paper, 2005. 432 mm; 17 inches diameter (tondo). Signed, titled and dated in ink, lower right.
Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; private Atlanta collection.
This lush watercolor is one in a series of works on paper that the artist made in response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Born in Milwaukee, Derr first studied at the city's Layton School of Art. After serving in the Air Force during the Korean War, he studied in the Independent Group of Painters and Sculptors in Tokyo, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. After earning his diploma in 1960, he joined the faculty in 1964 at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and also taught at Tufts University. His work has been featured in many exhibitions, including the African-American Master Artists in Residency Program at Northeastern University, and those at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Studio Museum of Harlem. His work is found in the collections of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Boston, the University of Vermont, Putney, VT and Bentley College, Waltham, MA.
