Richard Mayhew

Richard Mayhew was a distinguished American landscape painter and printmaker whose deeply poetic, semi-abstract works explored the spiritual and emotional dimensions of nature. Born in Amityville, New York, to a father of African American and Native American (Shinnecock and Narragansett) heritage and a mother who was also of mixed ancestry, Mayhew's multicultural background profoundly influenced his artistic vision. He studied at the Art Students League in New York and later at the Brooklyn Museum Art School and Columbia University. Throughout his career, Mayhew developed a distinctive style that merged abstract expressionist techniques with landscape imagery, creating luminous, color-saturated compositions that evoked the essence rather than literal representation of natural environments. Mayhew's paintings are characterized by their ethereal quality, atmospheric depth, and sophisticated use of color harmonies. His landscapes often feature rolling hills, expansive skies, and subtle geological forms rendered in rich, nuanced palettes that suggest both memory and imagination. He was a founding member of the Spiral group in 1963, an important collective of African American artists including Romare Bearden and Norman Lewis, who met to discuss the role of Black artists during the Civil Rights Movement. His work has been exhibited extensively at major institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Studio Museum in Harlem. Throughout his seven-decade career, Mayhew received numerous honors and his work entered important public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He was also a dedicated educator, teaching at various institutions including Penn State University, Smith College, and the Art Students League. Mayhew's contribution to American art lies in his ability to transcend categorization, creating works that speak to universal human experiences of nature, spirituality, and transcendence while maintaining a distinct personal voice that bridged Abstract Expressionism, Color Field painting, and landscape tradition.