Wildlife Art

Florida Highwaymen Art started in 1950s with a group of talented but unknown African-American artists who were painting Florida landscapes out of Fort Pierce in Florida. The group was founded by the original Highwaymen Alfred Hair, who was at one time a student of the well-known Florida artist Albert Ernest “Beanie” Backus. Knowing that their work would never be displayed in galleries or shows, these young men were paddling them on the sides of the highways and selling them from door to door to offices, businesses and individuals who liked what they painted for as low as $25 a piece.

The style of the Florida Highwaymen Art is very much influenced by the works of Albert Backus, mentioned above. The paintings are mostly of Florida landscapes and painted in somewhat rough but very vivid and reach manner. With the time, they have developed a unique style of painting that let them finish their work a lot faster then for usual artists, which increased productivity and let them sell their works at the fraction of price.

They didn’t get recognised at the time and disbanded their unofficial union in 80s, and Florida Highwaymen Art would probably just consigned in oblivion if not for Jim Fitch, who was a Florida art collector and museum curator. He’d got interested in the work of these painters and wrote an article in 1995, naming them “Highwaymen” for the first time. Not long after, another article was published in the New York Times, and it apparently sparkled a new interest to the artists and their paintings.

At the present, the interest to the Florida Highwaymen Art is growing and their works are selling for hundreds and thousands dollars. By this time 26 artists were officially recognised as Florida “Highwaymen” Artists, including 9 original “Highwaymen”. Some of the painters have deceased and some stopped painting, but others still keep painting and finally getting credited for their work.

By: Misha Kerogazov

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