Highwaymen Art Florida's Forgotten Folk Art Landscape Paintings

Many people in Florida know about Highwaymen paintings, due to massive localized media attention and published books and articles. But many people outside of the sunshine state have never heard of the group of African American artists, who in the 1950's, captured on canvas the old Florida of the past, before industry took over and bulldozers plowed the land. These artists grew up in a time when Florida was ripe, the seas were less polluted and palm trees were everywhere, blowing in the balmy breeze of the east coast. The artists were from the Ft. Pierce area, and under direction from Alfred Hair and Harold Newton, two of the most famous Highwaymen artists, they learned the formula for painting landscapes, but incorporated their own style and painted fast, in order to make money by selling as many paintings as they could within a day. These artists were racially discriminated against, and could not display their works in galleries, so they resourcefully sold their art from their cars. Their works have now become legendary, and the Highwaymen art collecting trend shows no signs of slowing down.

What makes Highwaymen Art popular is the look, many windswept stormy beaches, intense colors, the way the paint was applied to the canvas, which consisted of old masonite from nearby construction sites and shabby chic type frames, often left unpainted. In some cases, it is folk art, in other works, many examples of fine art, the work has forever captured the intense tropical beauty that only Florida has to offer, in a style that appears mysterious and almost mystical.

Highwaymen Artist R.A.McLendon. One of the most gifted of the group of artists

Credit: Painting by R.A. McLendon Photo Linda Stamberger

Copyright: Linda Stamberger