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Rhapsody
Born in Amityville, New York, Richard Mayhew experienced firsthand the complex interplay of water, earth, and sky along Long Island Sound. Of African American, Shinnecock, and Cherokee descent, Mayhew also gained a deep appreciation for nature from his grandmother, who taught him Native American "nature lore, ways, and attitudes.”
In 1963, inspired by the civil rights movement, Richard Mayhew co-founded the Spiral Group of black artists, many of whose members incorporated Afro-centric imagery or addressed racial issues in their work.In contrast, Mayhew drew inspiration from the luminous landscapes of 19th-century Tonalism, the spontaneity of 20th-century gestural Abstract Expressionism, and his early experience as an improvisational jazz singer, to express “the essence of nature, the unique spiritual mood of the land.” Mayhew's extraordinary color harmonies, with their animated—even anthropomorphic—trees and fields, partake of an American transcendentalist landscape tradition that remains resonant in California, where he currently lives.
- Artist
- Richard Mayhew
- Title
- Rhapsody
- Date
- 2002
- Object Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 48 x 60 in. (121.92 x 152.4 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase, Volunteer Council Art Acquisition Fund
- Accession Number
- 2010.2