Maxwell mays (1918-2009). Medium: Oil on Board. Signed & dated '2002', lower left. Dimensions: 20" x 24"; framed: 24" x 28". The artist Max Mays (1918 – 2009) became a Rhode Island icon for his homey and nostalgic historic renderings of 19th century life in the small state. Very much like Grandma Moses his appeal was in naïve viewings but of city and rural life in New England. Mays was from a wealthy family and his imagery often reflected childhood memories and stories of past eras combined with historic research of 19th century buildings and local geography. His paintings were narratives as in this Downton Abbey like scene of two staff inspecting the table setting before a grand dinner party. The blue porcelain, the flower arrangement on the side table and of course the family dog observing the activity bring the scene to life. His folk art appeals in its simplicity and celebration of everyday adventures in life – cooking in the kitchen, setting the table or traveling to the train station for an adventure. Born into a wealthy family in Providence, ‘Max’ as he preferred to be called, followed his father into the family business, Mays Manufacturing Co. He demonstrated an aptitude and interest in art in his youth. He attended Saturday art classes at the Rhode Island School of Design in his pre-college years, and later enrolled and graduated from RISD in 1941. Mays served in Brazil in a map-making unit during WWII. While stationed there he befriended a US Naval officer who was an art collector. That friendship resulted in Mays’ first public exhibition of his paintings in Colorado Springs and then the Denver Art Museum. While he continued his successful business career in the family business, Mays’ artistic career broke onto the New York scene with his first one-man exhibition at the Ferargil Gallery in New York in 1948 which sold out all his paintings. Frederic Newlin Price, the Director of Ferargil, was known for previously debuting the art of Grant Wood, Thomas Hart Benton, and Arthur Davies at this well-established 57th Street gallery.

Good

24 x 28 in

4 lb