Artist Spotlight

A Lifetime in Art with Richard Mayhew

Richard Mayhew is the oldest living Art Students League instructor—and he's still putting on new exhibitions. View our interview with him here.

October 1, 2023
The Art Students League Editorial Staff

In this short film, Mayhew reflects on his lifetime spent in the fine arts, from his childhood drawings to teaching at the Art Students League and his connection with the experience of painting.Richard Mayhew has achieved wide renown for lurid, improvisational paintings that render emotional visions of the American landscape. He is the only living member of the storied Spiral Group, a collective of African American artists including Norman Lewis, Romare Bearden, and Emma Amos, who came together to in 1963 discuss their relationship to the civil rights movement and the shifting landscape of American art, culture, and politics. An artist of African American and Native American descent, Mayhew draws heavily on his relationship to his dual ancestry in his work, creating a unique visual language that explores the intersection of nature and culture, memory, and identity.More on Mayhew here: https://viewingroom.venusovermanhatta...