James Hayward, an American abstract painter, died on April 16, 2026.
He was 82. Born in 1943 in San Francisco, California, Hayward was known for paintings divided into two bodies of work: flat paintings, made from 1975 to 1984, and thick paintings, which began in 1984 and continued thereafter.
He worked in series, including The Annunciations, The Stations of the Cross, the Red Maps, Fire Paintings and Smoke Paintings. Hayward earned a bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University, studied in the graduate art program at the University of California, Los Angeles, from 1966 to 1969, and received a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Washington in 1972.
James Hayward, 82, American abstract painter.