Yield Sister Ruth belongs to a series of paintings that Indiana began in the early 1960s. The first work in this series, Yield Brother, was painted expressly for a 1963 benefit exhibition held by the Bertrand Russel Peace Foundation. This was followed by three larger diamond shaped Yield Brother paintings, as well as a number of smaller canvases, such as this one, dedicated to friends. Yield Sister Ruth is unique in being the only known work from the series dedicated to a woman. It was likely painted for Ruth Kaufmann, who curated Indiana / Natkin, a two-person exhibition with Robert Natkin, at the Stubbing and Greenfield Gallery in Mamaroneck, New York, in 1962.
