Mary Richards author page

Mary Richards biography

Mary Richards is a British art publisher, writer and illustrator whose books introduce children to art and visual culture. She has worked as Publisher at the Hayward Gallery in London’s Southbank Centre and as an editor at Tate Publishing.

In 2018, she abridged and adapted A History of Pictures for Children from David Hockney and Martin Gayford’s A History of Pictures, published by Thames & Hudson. She is also the author of Splat!: The Most Exciting Artists of All Time (Thames & Hudson) and The Modern Art Journal (Tate Publishing).

Richards has written children’s history titles with Thames & Hudson, including A History of Music for Children, co-written with composer David Schweitzer. In September 2022, Thames & Hudson published A History of Words for Children, written by Mary Richards and illustrated by Rose Blake.