Richard Mayhew (April 3, 1924 – September 26, 2024) was an American landscape painter, illustrator, and arts educator, of Native and African American descent. His abstract, brightly colored landscapes are informed by his experiences as an African American/Native American and his interest in Jazz and the performing arts. He lived and worked in

Soquel Soquel (; Ohlone: ''Sokel'') is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, California, located on the northern coast of Monterey Bay. The population was 9,980 at the 2020 United S ...

and Santa Cruz, California.

Early life and career

Richard Mayhew was born on April 3, 1924, in

Amityville Amityville () is a village in the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 9,500 at the 2020 census. The village maintains its own accredited law enforcement agency, ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, to Native American and African American parents. His father Alvin Mayhew, was of

Montaukett The Montaukett (" Metoac"), more commonly known as Montauk, are an Algonquian-speaking Native American people from the eastern and central sections of Long Island, New York, United States. Name The exact meaning of the name Montauk is unkn ...

/ Shinnecock descent and his mother, Lillian Goldman Mayhew was of African American and

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

Lumbee The Lumbee, also known as People of the Dark Water, are a mixed-race community primarily located in Robeson County, North Carolina, which claims to be descended from myriad Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands who once inhabited th ...

descent. He was an enrolled-citizen of the Montaukett Indian Nation. His mother would take him to New York City to see paintings, and he was inspired at a young age by

George Inness George Inness (May 1, 1825 – August 3, 1894) was an American landscape painting, landscape painter. Now recognized as one of the most influential American artists of the nineteenth century, Inness was influenced by the Hudson River Schoo ...

paintings. As a teenager he studied with medical illustrator James Willson. Mayhew was in the

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

with the

Montford Point Marines The Montford Point Marine Association (MPMA) is a nonprofit military veterans' organization, founded to memorialize the legacy of the first African Americans to serve in the United States Marine Corps. The first African American U.S. Marines w ...

, rising to the rank of

first sergeant First sergeant is typically a senior non-commissioned officer rank, used in many countries. Singapore First sergeant is a Specialist (Singapore), specialist in the Singapore Armed Forces. First sergeants are the most senior of the junior spe ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. However, in a 2019 interview, Mayhew stated he did not identify with his time in military service, and it inspired his interest in interdisciplinary studies. Mayhew studied at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

and with artist

Edwin Dickinson Edwin Walter Dickinson (October 11, 1891 – December 2, 1978) was an American painter and draftsman best known for psychologically charged self-portraits, quickly painted landscapes, which he called ''premier coups'', and large, hauntingly enigma ...

. Later attending

Brooklyn Museum Art School The Brooklyn Museum Art School was a non-degree-granting professional school that opened at the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York in the summer of 1941. The Brooklyn Museum Art School provided instruction for amateur artists as well until Ja ...

in 1948 to 1959, and studying with

Reuben Tam Reuben Tam (January 17, 1916 – January 3, 1991) was an American landscape painter, educator, poet and graphic artist. Early life and education He was born in Kapa'a, Hawai'i, Kapa'a on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i. He earned a BA degree fro ...

. He also took some courses at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. He worked as a china decorator in the late 1940s in New York, where he met his first wife Dorothy Zuccarini. Mayhew was a Jazz singer in the 1950s, performing in small clubs in New York City and in the

Borscht Belt The Borscht Belt, or Yiddish Alps, is a region which was noted for its summer resorts that catered to Jewish vacationers, especially residents of New York City. The resorts, now mostly defunct, were located in the southern foothills of the Catski ...

of the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

. In 1955 he had his first solo exhibition in Brooklyn, and he ended his singing career. In 1958, Mayhew won the John Hay Whitney Fellowship and took his family with him to Europe. In the 1960s, he illustrated children's books. Mahew was a founding member of

Spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects. Two-dimensional A two-dimension ...

, a black painters' group in the 1960s

, which included

Romare Bearden Romare Bearden (, ) (September 2, 1911 – March 12, 1988) was an American artist, author, and songwriter. He worked with many types of media including cartoons, oils, and collages. Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bearden grew up in New York C ...

Charles Alston Charles Henry "Spinky" Alston (November 28, 1907 – April 27, 1977) was an American painter, sculptor, illustrator, muralist and teacher who lived and worked in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem. Alston was active in the Harlem Renaissa ...

, Charles White, Felrath Hines, Norman Lewis, Emma Amos, Reginald Gammon, and

Hale Woodruff Hale Aspacio Woodruff (August 26, 1900 – September 6, 1980) was an American artist known for his murals, paintings, and prints. Early life, family and education Woodruff was born in Cairo, Illinois, on August 26, 1900. He grew up in a black fa ...

as members. The Spiral collective formed in 1963, after the

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (commonly known as the March on Washington or the Great March on Washington) was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic righ ...

, as a way for artists to discuss their experiences in the Civil Rights movement. He was also a member of the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition. For 14 years he taught at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, starting in 1977 and retiring in 1991. He taught art and/or interdisciplinary thinking at other schools around the United States, including

(1963),

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

(1963), Art Students League of New York (1965),

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

(1969),

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

(1971),

California State University, East Bay California State University, East Bay (Cal State East Bay, CSU East Bay, or CSUEB) is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 post-baccala ...

(1974),

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

(1975),

Sonoma State University Sonoma State University (SSU, Sonoma State, or Sonoma) is a public university in Sonoma County, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Sonoma State offers 92 bachelor's degree programs, 19 master's de ...

(1976),

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of C ...

(1992), and others. He was introduced to interdisciplinary learning during his time teaching at Pratt which at the time offered different disciplines alongside art studio, and he was working alongside other instructors such as

Eleanor Holmes Norton Eleanor Holmes Norton (born June 13, 1937) is an American politician, lawyer, and human rights activist. Norton is a congressional delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she has represented the District of Columbia since 1991 as ...

(teaching sociology),

Jacob Lawrence Jacob Armstead Lawrence (September 7, 1917 – June 9, 2000) was an American painter known for his portrayal of African-American historical subjects and contemporary life. Lawrence referred to his style as "dynamic cubism", an art form populariz ...

, and William A.J. Payne (teaching anthropology). Students of Mayhew include

Beverly McIver Beverly McIver (born c. 1962) is a contemporary artist, mostly known for her self-portraits, who was born and raised in Greensboro, NC. She is currently the Esbenshade Professor of the Practice of Art, Art History and Visual Studies at Duke Uni ...

, Rodney Allen Trice, among others. In 2000, Mayhew moved to

in Santa Cruz County, California. A solo retrospective exhibition of Mayhew's work took place in 2009 in New York City at ZONE: Contemporary Art at 41 West 57th Street The exhibition traveled to three additional venues. In 2023, Venus Over Manhattan opened its new gallery at 39 Great Jones Street with "Richard Mayhew: Natural Order," displaying about twenty of his paintings and works on paper. The exhibition featured significant contributions from backers of Mayhew's art and was complemented by a catalog. Later that year, the

Sonoma Valley Museum of Art The Sonoma Valley Museum of Art (known colloquially as the SVMA) is an art museum located in Sonoma, California, United States. Founded in 1998, the museum exhibits works by regional, national and international modern and contemporary artists. H ...

launched a comprehensive retrospective titled "Richard Mayhew: Inner Terrain," which highlighted his evolution as an artist. Mayhew's work is featured in various permanent collections including: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA),

De Young (museum) The de Young Museum, formally the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco, California, named for early San Francisco newspaperman M. H. de Young. Located on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of the ci ...

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

, and the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

, among others.

Personal life and death

Mayhew was married to artist Dorothy Zuccarini and together they had two children, Ina Mayhew and Scott Mayhew. His second marriage was to Rosemary Gibbons. Mayhew died on September 26, 2024, at the age of 100 at his home in

Soquel, California Soquel (; Ohlone: ''Sokel'') is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, located on the northern coast of Monterey Bay. The population was 9,980 at the 2020 census. History ''Osocalis'' was th ...

Filmography

References

External links

Richard Mayhew profile
on Spark KQED * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayhew, Richard 1924 births 2024 deaths American landscape painters African-American painters American men centenarians African-American centenarians People from Amityville, New York People from Santa Cruz County, California Pennsylvania State University faculty Abstract expressionist artists United States Marine Corps non-commissioned officers African Americans in World War II People from Soquel, California Art Students League of New York faculty Pratt Institute faculty Brooklyn Museum Art School alumni United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II 21st-century African-American artists Art Students League of New York alumni Columbia University alumni African-American United States Navy personnel

Early life and career

Personal life and death

Filmography

See also

References

Further reading

External links