3 Broadway/theatrical drawings. Untitled (Woman in blue dress), mixed media on transparency, taped to Bristol board. 432 x 349 mm; 17 x 13 3/4 inches, unsigned. Untitled (Dancing couple), ink and watercolor on transparency, taped to Bristol board. 432 x 356 mm; 17 x 14 inches, initialed in lower left image. Untitled (Dancers with Eiffel Tower), ink and watercolor on transparency, taped to Bristol board. 432 x 356 mm; 17 x 14 inches, initialed in lower right image.
Provenance: Gifted by the artist to the current owner, private collection, New York.
Richards began his career as an illustrator in New York, sketching fashion collections for newspapers and beauty illustrations for brands such as L'Oréal and Revlon. He went on to create posters and illustrations for Broadway shows including Noel Coward‘s Present Laughter and Legs Diamond, one of the many shows he worked on for Peter Allen. A friend to many musicians, he created album cover art for Sarah Vaughan, Lena Horne, Dinah Shore, and Peggy Lee. He devoted his last years to drawing gay erotic art both as fine art and for illustrations in Mandate and other publications. In 2018, he was featured in a Kate Spade advertising campaign along with other celebrities such as Jourdan Dunn, Iris Apfel, and Jon Batisste.
