Richard Mayhew at 100: Artistic Community Pays Tribute to ‘One of America’s Most Important Landscape Painters’

Richard Mayhew was born April 3, 1924 in Amityville, N.Y. The artist is shown in his studio in Soquel, Calif. | Courtesy Venus Over Manhattan, New York, N.Y.

UPDATE (09/27/24): Richard Mayhew died on Sept. 26, 2024. His passing was confirmed by his representatives, ACA Galleries and Venus Over Manhattan, and reported by ARTnews

TODAY IS A GLORIOUS DAY marking the 100th birthday of Richard Mayhew. An artist, educator, and U.S. Marine veteran, Mayhew is the last living member of Spiral, the influential artist collective co-founded by Romare Bearden. Mayhew is known for his consistent production of imagined landscapes. The paintings explore his relationship with color and connection to nature. After practicing for eight decades, Mayhew is still working in his studio. His mastery of light and perspective has a transformative effect on his canvases, infusing his diverse terrains and expansive vistas with an innate sense of emotion, transcendence, and spirituality.

To celebrate Mayhew’s centennial, Culture Type reached out to a selection of artists and curators who have known and worked the him over the years and offered tributes reflecting on their experiences.

Mayhew is marking his milestone birthday at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco. The museum has been a champion of the artist, who lives near Santa Cruz, about 80 miles south of the museum. In 2009, MoAD opened “The Art of Richard Mayhew,” a traveling retrospective featuring works made between 1953 and 2007. The museum also honored the artist at its gala awards in 2014. This evening, MoAD is gathering about 100 people for a private birthday party with friends, family, and other members of his artistic community.

Richard Mayhew and his family view his centennial as an opportunity to give back to the museum and support the generations of artists that are coming up behind him. In commemoration of his 100th birthday, MoAD is launching the Richard Mayhew Exhibitions Fund.

MOAD IS HOSTING MAYHEW at his request. The artist and his family view his centennial as an opportunity to give back to the museum and support the generations of artists that are coming up behind him. In commemoration of his 100th birthday, MoAD is launching the Richard Mayhew Exhibitions Fund. 

The initiative supports the museum’s curatorial programs. The goal is to inaugurate the fund with $100,000 raised with donations from guests attending the party and the general public online. MoAD Executive Director Monetta White told Culture Type it was a “momentous occasion” and “such a wonderful tribute to keep his legacy going.” White said all gifts to the fund will directly support the presentation of exhibitions at MoAD, including related research and public programming. After reaching the initial goal, she anticipates the exhibitions fund will continue to grow with additional gifts to provide sustainable, ongoing support into the future.

Several people are delivering remarks at the event, including Bridget R. Cooks, a professor and curator who co-organized Mayhew’s retrospective at MoAD and co-conducted an interview of the artist in 2019 for the Getty Trust Oral History Project, part of its African American Art History Initiative.

Cooks also shared a reflection of Mayhew for Culture Type, calling him “one of America’s most important landscape painters.” Gallerists Stella Jones and Sherry Washington, and Andrew Walker, who authored “Richard Mayhew: Transcendence” the artist’s recent monograph, are also among those who offered thoughtful contributions in commemoration of his centennial:

RICHARD MAYHEW (b. 1924), “Fall Sonata,” 2019 (oil in Canvas, 36 x 48 inches). | © Richard Mayhew, Courtesy the artist and ACA Galleries, New York, N.Y.

Diedra Harris-Kelley
Co-Director, Romare Bearden Foundation, New York, N.Y.

I FIRST MET RICHARD MAYHEW in the early 2000s. He visited the offices of the Romare Bearden Foundation on 7th Ave and spoke fondly of his experiences with Romare Bearden and the Spiral Group. I was a bit of a fan girl. While in graduate school, I found myself painting forests and trees as an exercise. I found his paintings inspiring for the abstract emotional punch they achieved. He was a marvel in person, too—soft-spoken and light-hearted—like an artist who had seen a steady path and was enjoying his fruit.

Last year, Richard joined us in a virtual talk in celebration of Spiral’s beginnings. There was still a lightness about him, but when asked about their mission, he emphatically stated: “to fight the omission and denial of African American artists!” The goal of Spiral was to uncover those responsible for the active dismissal of value and opportunities for Black artists. And then he repeated it. Sixty years later, Mayhew was stating Spiral’s cause with such fervor it seemed an urgent call for our current times. Happy Birthday!

“Their goal (Spiral) was to uncover those responsible for the active dismissal of value and opportunities for Black artists.… Sixty years later Mayhew was stating Spiral’s cause with such fervor it seemed an urgent call for our current times.” — Diedra Harris-Kelley

RICHARD MAYHEW (b. 1924), “Misty Mystic,” circa 2012 (oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches). | © Richard Mayhew, Courtesy the artist and ACA Galleries, New York, N.Y.

Bridget R. Cooks
Professor and Chancellor’s Fellow
Department of African American Studies, Department of Art History
University of California, Irvine

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICHARD MAYHEW! I first met Mayhew in 2005 at the celebration for the gift of two of his paintings to the de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University. By the end of our conversation, he insisted that I curate a retrospective of his paintings. In 2009, Karen Kienzle, Susan Hillhouse, and I curated a three-part chronological retrospective at the de Saisset Museum, the Museum of Art and History in Santa Cruz, and the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD).

The exhibitions were a spectacular representation of Mayhew’s life in art. It began with the personal and professional foundations of Mayhew’s style as a young man of African American, Cherokee, Lumbee, and Shinnecock descent, coming of age in New York during the 1950s explosion of Abstract Expressionism. The selections for this five-decade retrospective showed the depth of Mayhew’s vision that combines his unique style, philosophy for painting, and synthesis of artistic and social influences which span the trajectory of his full artistic career.

Preparing for the exhibition was an honor. With the help of his family, the staff and donors at MoAD, and a host of collectors and museum professionals, and contributing catalogue authors from around the country, we offered the exhibition “The Art of Richard Mayhew” and published its catalogue.

Richard Mayhew has given the world a lifetime of imaginary and inspired places, places that without him would never have existed. Through his paintings he has attracted a community of viewers who visit his world of landscapes and seascapes frequently and have made it their own. He continues to generate these places in a seemingly insatiable quest to share with viewers the beauty of what he has seen, dreamed, and felt, so that they can feel it too.

Studying his life in art over his 80 years of continuous work is moving in two ways. First, one is captivated by the sensuality of the textures and colors in his large-scale sweeping vistas. Second, what effectively stands out in his oeuvre is his passionate commitment to the craft of painting and the representation of the landscape itself. Mayhew is a focused and relentlessly consistent painter fueled by the love of the natural environment and color itself. His joy in the ritual and affect of painting translates into a sense of ease and gracefulness. His technical mastery makes his labor seem effortless, yet the engagement of viewers with his paintings matches the spirit of intensity in which they were made. This combination of discipline and love has made Richard Mayhew one of America’s most important landscape painters of the twentieth and into the twenty first century. Happy Birthday, Mr. Mayhew and thank you for sharing your gifts with the world.

“Richard Mayhew has given the world a lifetime of imaginary and inspired places, places that without him would never have existed. Through his paintings he has attracted a community of viewers who visit his world of landscapes and seascapes frequently and have made it their own.”
— Bridget Cooks

2014: Richard Mayhew, far right, with fellow Montford Point Marines at Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans, La. | Courtesy Stella Jones

Stella Jones
Co-Founder and Owner, Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans, La.

MY LATE HUSBAND AND I opened Stella Jones Gallery in June 1996 and first exhibited Richard Mayhew in June 1997. He is a proud Marine veteran who was one of the first Black Marines during the 1940s at Montford Point Camp in Jacksonville, North Carolina. He came back to New Orleans in 2014 for their annual convention and the gallery saw it as an opportunity to celebrate his 90th birthday with him and his wife Rosemary, and to exhibit his latest work.

We had a small gathering here at the gallery and he stood ramrod straight, as only a man in the military can, while wearing a medal around his neck, his Chapters insignia, and hat as we sang “Happy Birthday.” Interestingly, the handful of other Montford Point Marines in attendance were not aware of his “other life” as an artist.

We had a chance to chat the day before the celebration as he viewed the exhibition of his art. He seemed to enjoy seeing the paintings all together, including a few small watercolors he created especially for the exhibition. He shared stories and reminiscences about the works, including the oil painting, “Seasonal Transformation,” as seen in the photo with Mr. Mayhew and myself (below). He spoke about the paintings as “of the memory” abstracts, and free forms and how they are reflective of the time. For me, it is interesting how an artist with rigid training in the military can paint with such sensitivity and with a lyrical and poetic technique.

Happy Birthday Mr. Mayhew and well done! He’s always been Mr. Mayhew to me, even though he always says “just call me Rick.”

“Interestingly, the handful of other Montford Point Marines in attendance were not aware of his “other life” as an artist.” — Stella Jones

2014: Richard Mayhew with Stella Jones at Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans, La. Shown, from left, a sculpture by Richard Hunt and Mayhew’s “Seasonal Transformation.” | Courtesy Stella Jones

Mary Schmidt Campbell
President Emerita, Spelman College (2015-2022), Former Executive Director, Studio Museum in Harlem (1977-1987)

YEARS AGO, WHEN I WAS RESEARCHING the origins of Spiral for a biography on Romare Bearden, Richard Mayhew’s name came to mind. As a novice curator, I had had the pleasure of working with Richard on a solo show at the Studio Museum in Harlem in the 1970s. I remember from those early years an artist of absolute clarity about what he was trying to accomplish in his work. Decades later, a major collector of his work arranged a visit to his California studio in the hills so that I cauld chat with him about Spiral. Richard was gracious, allowing us to spend time in his studio, taking time sitting on the porch looking out over the rolling hills of a magnificent California landscape. His mind was razor sharp, recalling details of Spiral meetings, his sense of what was important in Spiral, to him and to Romie as well. I walked away from that meeting with renewed respect for an artist whose talent and integrity continues to grow to this day.

Allan L. Edmunds
Founder and President Emeritus, Brandywine Workshop and Archives
Philadelphia, Pa.

WE SHOULD ALL CELEBRATE the birthday of Richard Mayhew. Artist-educator Richard Mayhew celebrates his 100th birthday on April 3. This tall, very dignified man of mixed heritage—his father was African American and Shinnecock Indian, his mother was the product of Cherokee Indian and African American ancestry—has had a signature style of expressionistic landscape painting that represents a small segment of African American art history. His combinations of muted and brightly colored atmospheric landscapes use lush greens, reddish-oranges, and purplist-blues to create moods both real and imagined.

I experienced one of these mood setting inspirations when I visited Mayhew in 2008 at his seaside home in Santa Cruz, California. My visit was to meet Mayhew in his environment and learn about the person behind his art and legacy as a teacher, prior to his receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Brandywine Workshop and Archives. Santa Cruz was a magnet for surfers; its ocean vista and the energy represented by the strong waves and energy of the surfers, seemed to contrast with the calm breeze and beautiful landscape of the area that I was experiencing as Mayhew and I walked and talked about life, family, and his artistic legacy. He was proud of the service he gave the field as a teacher, mentor, activist, and as a founding member of the Spiral Group, a collective of established artists centered in New York City, that included Romare Bearden, Emma Amos, and Norman Lewis, among others.

What stands out most for me is that Richard Mayhew has a presence and he brings light and hope to a room. His journey as one of the few successful African American artists of the last century to prioritize non-representational landscape painting, exemplifies the thematic diversity for which artists and historians of African American art have given little attention.

Sept. 4, 2023: Richard Mayhew with Nashormeh Lindo at his home by in Soquel, Calif. | Photo by Delroy Lindo, Courtesy Nashormeh Lindo

Nashormeh Lindo
Artist/Educator/Student and Former Chair of the California Arts Council (2018-21), Oakland, Calif.

15 YEARS AGO, I was visiting with Richard Mayhew, and he gave me an extraordinary gift. It was a photograph of myself with Romare Bearden that he had taken during a symposium for the exhibition “Since the Harlem Renaissance: 50 Years of Afro-American Art.” The event was where we first met. Convened in the fall of 1985 at Penn State, my alma mater, it was the first time I had returned since graduating a decade earlier. Seeing the photograph, I recalled my struggles as an art student who had longed for role models that looked like me. I had only found them in books at the time, so the symposium that Rick and others had convened was an especially powerful testament to their existence.

It also represented a profound, transformative experience for me. Even though I did not study with Rick at Penn State (he came the year after I graduated), with that experience, he inadvertently changed the course of my life and my career. And unbeknownst to me, he had documented my participation and presence at this historic event with the photograph. In his own way, he created an opportunity for me to meet artists who all seemed to have magically stepped out of the books and were walking around in real life, telling me their thoughts, and sharing their wisdom. This is one of the ways Rick has made a difference in my life. He continues to teach and inspire me. He is my friend, and my mentor. I love his art and I love him. Happy Birthday Rick!

Andrew J. Walker
Executive Director, Amon Carter Museum of American Art
Fort Worth, Texas

IN 2018, I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH to visit Richard and his wife, Rosemary, in California where the drive along the Pacific coast highway was awe inspiring. When I arrived, I was greeted with grace into an environment that resonated his artistic presence and legacy. His impactful and groundbreaking career had barriers he broke through but numerous moments of success as an artist and mentor. What stood out to me most throughout our conversation was how Richard is a giver. Of all the tales that Richard told of himself, what stuck with me was his pride in the considerable accomplishments of his children and Rosemary, who is a documentarian and champion of Indigenous rights. The second was his appreciation and delight in the many artists who trained with him over the years, many whose work graces his home.

RICHARD MAYHEW (b. 1924), “Spiritual Transition,” 1997 (oil on canvas, 60 x 84 inches). | © Richard Mayhew, Courtesy the artist and ACA Galleries, New York, N.Y.

Lisa Corinne Davis
Artist, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Professor of Art, Hunter College, New York, N.Y.

WHEN I FIRST MET RICHARD in 2018, I felt an immediate kinship with his work, thanks to his ability to avoid the known themes and iconography often used to visually communicate the Black experience. Richard has painted believable but non-existent landscapes that speak to identity through notions of space as a way of understanding the world. He recognizes that space is deeply connected to the Black experience––spaces we can be in, spaces we are left out of, and spaces that were taken away. Richard’s landscapes are not observed and preserved, but built and invented, one mark at a time, existing only in his mind’s eye. As a member of the Spiral Group, Richard entered into a zone of discussion and thinking where the mind and creative invention were key. Using color as a muscular component, where objects are not illuminated but have an internal effect––an approach he describes as “inside painting out rather than outside painting in”––his intellectual insights on race are transformed into a visual experience.

“Richard has painted believable but non-existent landscapes that speak to identity through notions of space as a way of understanding the world. He recognizes that space is deeply connected to the Black experience––spaces we can be in, spaces we are left out of, and spaces that were taken away.”
— Lisa Corinne Davis

Vernis Welmon
Professor Emeritus, Smeal College of Business
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa.

RICHARD MAYHEW WELCOMED ME into the Penn State community back in 1983. (Mayhew taught at Penn State from 1977 to 1991, when he retired as a professor emeritus.) We became fast friends over jazz and the arts. He is a phenomenal man who has a gentle spirit and a big heart! While at Penn State, he mentored many and served as a powerful role model for students and his colleagues. On occasion, he would use his jazz background as inspiration for his creative painting. He also hosted well-known jazz musicians at his home and invited members of the Penn State community to join in the fun.

Sherry Washington
Gallery Owner, Sherry Art LLC, Detroit, Mich.

I first met Richard in 1988 at Merton Simpson’s Gallery in New York. In 1987, Jacob Lawrence told me, “Mayhew is an incredible artist who deserves recognition. He is not presently shown. You can do it, Sherry.” Since then, I have curated 11 shows for him: Eight at Sherry Washington Gallery in Detroit, and one each at the Charles Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, Wayne County Community College, and Wayne State University.

I have always loved “Rick,” the person, for his humility and sensitivity and willingness to share his gifts with the community. Mayhew is a phenomenal, sensitive, introspective genius. He allows his viewers to think his art is simple and fun, when, in fact, it is complex, surreal, and brilliant. A painter must know the fundamentals of painting to create the masterpieces he does. He has a storied background in music. Much of his art beats to the tune of jazz. And in the 1950s, he sang on the same set as Charlie Parker.

As a gallery owner, I felt it was my duty to educate the public and my friends and family about this amazing, unsung phenom. That I did. I almost stood on street corners hawking the merits of Richard: “Extra! Extra! Read all about Richard Mayhew!” The world has taken notice and today at 100 years old, Richard is living to see his long overdue and proper recognition.

Richard’s art harkens back to his Native American and African American heritage. It is so fitting that he often titles his art “indigenous.” On April 3, 2024, to honor Richard’s life, his family, friends, collectors and spiritual Gods will endow the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco with a major fund to ensure that Richard’s voice enables other artists to continue adding their visual art experiences to world culture. This initiative shall keep Richard’s lifelong love of art making in the forefront of the art history of the world. CT

IMAGE: Above right, June 8, 1989: Sherry Washington with Richard Mayhew at an exhibition opening of his work at her gallery in Detroit, Mich. | Courtesy Sherry Washington

UPDATE (04/07/24): A few people contacted for this project expressed interest in sharing tributes, but their submissions arrived after publication. The post has been updated with a contribution by Mary Schmidt Campbell

“Richard Mayhew: Inner Terrain” is on view at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, through May 12, 2024. The show features about a dozen works, archival materials, and a detailed chronology of the artist.

FIND MORE about Richard Mayhew on his website

READ MORE Mayhew was profiled in the New York Times last year

FIND MORE Lisa Corinne Davis and Mayhew were in conversation on Exquisite Corpse, the National Academy of Design podcast in 2022

RICHARD MAYHEW (b. 1924), “Mission Valley,” 1993 (oil on canvas, 26 x 30 inches). | © Richard Mayhew, Courtesy the artist and ACA Galleries, New York, N.Y.

BOOKSHELF
Recently published, “Richard Mayhew: Transcendence” is the artist’s first major monograph. Fully illustrated, the volume spans two decades, including more than 70 works, dating from 1997 to 2015. ACA Director and Curator Mikaela Sardo Lamarche wrote the introduction. Andrew Walker, executive director of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, contributed a brief essay and conducted an interview with Richard Mayhew. “The Art of Richard Mayhew” accompanied the artist’s 2009-10 traveling retrospective at the Museum of the African Diaspora. The catalog is authored by co-curator Bridget R. Cooks.