Robert, among his paintings
About the Artist
Robert Laurie
Maitland IV
1954 – 2026 New York City
Actor. Fine artist. Writer. Poet. A life shaped by making — on canvas, on the page, and on the stage.
Color speaks where words fail, and poetry hums where the paintbrush rests.
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Painting and writing were never separate paths for Robert — but two windows looking into the same room.
The Life
A world of vivid color
An actor, fine artist, writer, and poet, Robert Maitland spent decades capturing the human experience, the charm of natural landscapes, and the rhythm of urban life through a vibrant interplay of acrylic painting and poetic expression.
His acrylic canvases are known for their bold, modern, highly stylized use of color and form — from soulful character studies to whimsical figures and peaceful coastal horizons. His portraits meet you with a steady, generous gaze; his figures carry a whimsy that edges toward the sacred and the comic at once; and again and again he returned to water — coves, rivers, and the coast — painted in the hush of dusk.
Cannon Beach, Oregon
The Work
Two windows into the same room
Painting and writing were never separate paths for Robert. A poem would open a door a painting had left ajar; a face he'd painted would turn up, years later, in a line of verse. To sit with both at once is to see the world the way he did — in color and in language, at the same time.
Cannon Beach, Oregon
obituary
Robert Laurie Maitland
IV
August 13, 1954 – May 9, 2026
Robert Laurie Maitland IV — artist, writer, actor, and a man of wonderfully sharp wit — passed away suddenly of natural causes on May 9, 2026, at his apartment in New York City. He was 71.
Born in New Rochelle, New York, on August 13, 1954, to Louise Hege Maitland and Robert Laurie Maitland III, Robert grew up in Bronxville, New York, where his creative spirit took root early. The Bronxville High School stage became his first home, with lead roles in productions including Oliver, South Pacific, Carousel, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Bye Bye Birdie, Don't Drink the Water, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. After graduation, he took the boy lead in The Fantasticks with The Seven Arts Society and played Rolf Gruber in The Sound of Music with the Pelham Summer Playhouse.
Bob went on to attend Ithaca College, majoring in English and Theater, where he earned praise for his lead role in the King Lear Reader's Theater. New York City called to him next — and it never let him go. He studied acting there and loved working summers with the Delacorte Theatre Shakespeare in the Park. He made the city his lifelong home, channeling his love of the arts into poetry, prolific acrylic paintings, and a continued passion for the stage.
To support his art, Bob worked across a remarkable range of roles over the years — at the New York School for Drawing, Painting & Sculpture; Multi-Vision Technologies, Inc.; the law firm of Levitt Greenberg Kaufman & Goldstein; and the American Broadcasting Company (ABC Network). He also bartended at Jimmy Ray's, where his charm and humor were surely as much of a draw as anything on the menu.
His visual art found its way into exhibitions in New York and onto the covers of published works: his painting Concerto graced the NY Writers Coalition anthology Writing from the Prince George & The Times Square; Portrait of a Man served as cover art for A Lover's Complaint: Poems by Michael La Bombarda; Eduardo appeared on the cover of Robert Thurston's novel Devil's Breath; and Mirror Image was featured on the cover of Sasee magazine. Through his Etsy shop, Maitland Art Prints, he sold prints of his paintings — though just as often, he simply gave them away to friends and family who admired them, because that was the kind of man he was.
In recent years, Bob found great joy in connecting with loved ones near and far through Facebook. His messages were a bright light in the lives of all who received them. His humor was legendary — quick, generous, and always perfectly timed — and his correspondence became a cherished part of daily life for those who knew him. Tall in stature and even larger in heart, Bob would give you the shirt off his back without a second thought.
He was deeply troubled by the direction of the country in his final years, grieving what he saw as a troubling erosion of decency, honesty, and the rule of law.
Bob Maitland leaves behind a legacy of gifted writing, deeply personal poetry, and paintings full of style and feeling. His wit, his warmth, and his generous spirit will be profoundly missed.
His ashes rest in beautiful Oregon, a place he loved to visit.
He is survived by his sister, Jan Maitland Thurston; her husband, Rob; and many beloved aunts, cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Disciplines
Medium
Painter · Poet
Actor · Writer
Acrylic on canvas
Based
Years
New York City
1954 – 2026
From the Studio
A few of his faces
