Mahler B. Ryder


Mahler Bessinger Ryder was an American visual artist, illustrator, and educator. He was also a self-taught jazz pianist, and a faculty member at the Rhode Island School of Design for many years. Ryder was a founding member of the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Biography

Mahler Bessinger Ryder was born on July 7, 1937, in Columbus, Ohio. He attended the Columbus [College of Art and Design]; Ohio State University; the Art Students League of New York; and the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
Ryder was a foundering member of the Studio Museum in Harlem, where he worked as a secretary from 1966 until 1967. He was a faculty member at Rhode Island School of Design from 1969 to 1992. During the civil rights movement, Ryder was as an activist. He was a member of the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition, and participated in their museum protests.
In the 1970s, Ryder created the bronze plaques for Edward Bannister's gravestone. In 2024, these bronze plaques were stolen off the gravestone at Providence's North Burial Ground cemetery. His best known works include The Great American Subway, Homage to the Guitar series and the Jazz Composers series, and The Woman Series. Ryder created a series of mixed media collages that paid tribute to African American jazz and blues figures, such as George Benson, Lead Belly, and B. B. King.
He died of cancer at the of age 54 on February 27, 1992, at Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence. He was survived by his mother, sister, and daughter. Ryder's archive can be found at the Smithsonian American Art and Portrait Gallery Library.

Exhibitions