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 and Santa Cruz, California.[1][2]
Early life and career
Richard Mayhew was born on April 3, 1924, in Amityville, New York, to Native American and African American parents.[3][4][5] His father Alvin Mayhew, was of Montaukett/Shinnecock descent and his mother, Lillian Goldman Mayhew was of African American and Cherokee-Lumbee descent.[5][2] 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 paintings.[2] As a teenager he studied with medical illustrator James Willson.[2]
Mayhew was a Jazz singer in the 1950s, performing in small clubs in New York City and in the Borscht Belt of the Catskill Mountains.[5][2] In 1955 he had his first solo exhibition in Brooklyn, and he ended his singing career.[6]
In 1958, Mayhew won the John Hay Whitney Fellowship and took his family with him to Europe.[8] In the 1960s, he illustrated children's books.[5][9]
In 2000, Mayhew moved to Soquel in Santa Cruz County, California.[5]
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[16] 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 launched a comprehensive retrospective titled "Richard Mayhew: Inner Terrain," which highlighted his evolution as an artist.[17]
Mayhew was married to artist Dorothy Zuccarini and together they had two children, Ina Mayhew and Scott Mayhew.[8] His second marriage was to Rosemary Gibbons.[2]
^"Mayhew, Richard". Pennsylvania Center for the Book. The Pennsylvania State University. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.