Gabriel Humberto Mayorga was born on March 24, 1911 in Tunja, Colombia, South America. His father, Carlos Mayorga, was born in 1891 in Bogotá, Colombia. His mother, Gertrude de Valbuena, was born in 1896 in Bogotá. His parents married on June 1, 1910 in Tunja. The groom was age nineteen, and the bride was age fourteen. They had four children, Gabriel (b.1911) , Carlos Hernando "Henry" (b. 1913), Guillermo (b. 1915), and Cecilia (b.1917).
In 1919 the father, Carlos Mayorga, died at the age of twenty-eight in Tunja, Colombia.
The widowed mother and her children left Colombia on the steam ship Baracoa and arrived in New York City on May 14, 1926, where they lived with her Brother-In-Law, Antonio Mayorga at 163 West 102nd Street, near Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
The family soon moved to their own home nearby at 3 West 103rd Street, near to Central Park West.
Gabriel Mayorga attended the Art Students League, at 215 West 57th Street, where he studied painting with Robert Brackman (1898-1980), and etching with William Auerbach-Levy (1889-1964).
Gabriel Mayorga later attended the Grand Central School of Art on 42nd Street and Park Avenue.
On October 28, 1928 The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky, reported the J. B. Speed Museum invited the public to attend the Fourth Annual exhibition of winners from the national competition to carve small sculptures out of a bar of soap, including the prize-winning sculpture, entitled "Strength," by Gabriel Mayorga.
In 1931 Gabriel Mayorga began to study at the National Academy of Design in NYC on Amsterdam Avenue and 109th Street. His fellow art students included future pulp artists Malvin Singer, Ernest Chiriacka, and William J. Brady. His teachers were Leon Kroll (1884-1974) and Ivan Olinsky (1878-1962).
In 1933 Gabriel Mayorga illustrated "The Theory And Practice Of Fencing," which was written by an internationally famous fencing master, Julio Martinez Castello, from Scribner's Publishing Company of NY.
On May 3, 1934 the artist completed his studies at the National Academy Of Design and received three prizes at the commencement ceremony.
In 1937 Gabriel Mayorga created several cover designs for monthly magazine published in Bogotá, Colombia, Estrellas Revista Mensual Ilustrada, which featured photos, news and gossip about movie stars from Latin America and Hollywood.
In 1940 he began to paint covers for pulp magazines, such as Super Science Stories, Astonishing, and Thrilling Wonder.
During WWII Gabriel Mayorga applied for U.S. Citizenship, which was granted in July 15, 1943. His application listed his address as a loft building in Soho at 425 West Broadway, where his mother also resided. The artist did not serve in the military. He did not marry and he had no children.
In the 1940s he and his brother, Carlos Hernando "Henry" Mayorga, started a fashion business, Mannequins by Mayorga, which created uniquely-sculpted and painted mannequins for window displays of retail stores.
In the he 1950s the artist moved to 331 West 11th Street, in the Bohemian neighborhood of Greenwich Village, where he exhibited paintings at fine art galleries in NYC.
From 1951 to 1972 Gabriel Mayorga taught art at the Pan American Art School of NY, at 316 West 57th Street. He also gave public lectures, such as a demonstration of pastel portraiture at the Dutchess County Art Association.
In the 1980s the artist moved to Los Angeles, California.
Gabriel Mayorga died at the age of seventy-seven in Marina del Rey, Los Angeles, California, in June 4, 1988.
© David Saunders 2018 |
