The Florida Highwaymen
The Florida Highwaymen were a group of African-American landscape painters who painted during 1950s-1960s. Their style is generally accreditied to A.E. Backus. The core group were twenty-six artists who have been given the name "The Highwaymen." In the formal art world they are also referred to as "Indian River School". The Highwaymen were not known as "highwaymen" in their era as the name was established by Florida art collector and museum curator Jim Fitch in a 1995 article.The Highwaymen were largely self-taught painters, mostly from the Fort Pierce area. They were excluded from the traditional world of art shows and galleries, and as a result, they painted on inexpensive Upson board and then framed their paintings with crown molding (brushed with gold or silver paint to "antique" them). The paintings were sold door-to-door throughout the southeastern coast of Florida. Sometimes the paintings were stacked before the oil was dry and as a result you can make out the imprint of the base of the next frame on a few of the paintings. They also were sold from the trunks of their cars along the eastern coastal roads.(A1A and I-95). Today their 100,000+ paintings have gathered significant interest and have become quite collectible. Authentic original paintings by the more talented artists in the group will easily bring in several thousand dollars.
Paintings by the Florida Highwaymen are very collectible today, but their story is about much more than art. The Highwaymen thrived as artists through their sheer determination to succeed as painters and not as laborers in citrus groves. They honed techniques to rapidly produce their paintings and developed strategies to sell and market their artwork outside of the formal world of art galleries and exhibitions. Their story is one of African Americans who carved out unique economic opportunities despite the racial conditions of the South at the time.
In 2000, twenty six artists were identified as Highwaymen. These artists were inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2004 as the Highwaymen and include: Curtis Arnett, Hezekiah Baker, Al “Blood” Black, brothers Ellis and George Buckner, Robert Butler, Mary Ann Carroll (the only woman in the group), brothers Johnny and Willie Daniels, Rodney Demps, James Gibson, Alfred Hair, Issac Knight, Robert Lewis, John Maynor, Roy McLendon, Alfonso “Pancho” Moran, brothers Harold and Lemuel and Sam Newton, Willie Reagan, Livingston “Castro” Roberts, Cornell “Pete” Smith, Charles Walker, Sylvester Wells, and Charles “Chico” Wheeler.
Of these twenty six, nine are considered "original" (or the earliest) Highwaymen: Harold Newton, Alfred Hair, Roy McLendon, James Gibson, Livingston Roberts, Mary Ann Carroll, Sam Newton, Willie Daniels, and Al Black.
