The Florida Highwaymen Story
The Florida Highwaymen are a group of 26 largely self-taught African-American landscape artists, mostly from the Fort Pierce, FL area. Influenced by the natural Florida landscape, they painted what they saw around them.
They created a body of work of more than 200,000 paintings, despite facing many racial and cultural barriers in the Jim Crow South of the 1950s and 1960s. Escaping manual labor in the orange groves and packinghouses, and without access to galleries and art agents, they made a living selling their paintings, often still wet, door-to-door along Florida’s east coast out of the trunks of their cars.
Their renown grew internationally during the early 2000's and they have been rightfully recognized for their vivid documentation of mid-twentieth century Florida culture and history. All 26 Florida Highwaymen were inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2004. Two are alive and active today.
(Other Hall of Fame inductees have included such diverse talents as photographer Clyde Butcher, playwright Tennessee Williams, novelists Ernest Hemingway, John D. MacDonald and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, singers Ray Charles, Rita Coolidge and Gloria Estefan, actor Burt Reynolds, patrons John N. Ringling and George Firestone, and architect Addison Mizner.)
The Highwaymen and Their Art
In the late 1950's Lincoln Park High School teacher Zanobia Jefferson introduced student Alfred Hair to renowned artist AE Backus, who became a mentor to Hair and other young African American artists from Fort Pierce and the Gifford area of nearby Vero Beach.
To create a greater awareness of Florida's artistic heritage, many years later curator Jim Fitch named the loosely-associated group of artists "The Highwaymen" because they sold their paintings to travelers and local businesses up and down Route 1 and into the interior of the state.
In 2001 documentary photographer Gary Monroe published a detailed account of their story in "The Highwaymen: Florida's African-American Landscape Painters".
The Highwaymen Honored
Induction Ceremony - Florida Artists Hall of Fame - 2004
The Highwaymen Heritage Trail Ribbon Cutting - 2011
Mosaic Mural - Fort Pierce, Florida
Highwaymen "Templates"
Royal Poinciana
Charles ("Chico") Wheeler
Ocean Shore
Hezekiah Baker
Breaking Waves
Mary Ann Carroll
Fire Skies
R.L. McLendon
Indian River
Willie Daniels
St. Lucie & Inland Rivers
Sylvester M. Wells
Backcountry
Sam Newton
Backcountry Pines
James Gibson
River of Grass
Robert Butler
People
Harold Newton
Stormy Weather
Alfred Hair
Moonlight on the Water
Willie Daniels
Orange Groves
A.E. Backus
Wildlife
Robert Butler
Books
Monroe, Gary. The Highwaymen: Florida's African-American Landscape Painters.
Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2001.
Monroe, Gary. Postcards from the Highwaymen. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2012.
Monroe, Gary. The Highwaymen Murals: Al Black’s Concrete Dreams. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2009.
Monroe, Gary. Mary Ann Carroll: First Lady of the Highwaymen.
Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2014.
Monroe, Gary. Harold Newton: The Original Highwayman. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2007.
Enns, Catherine M. The Journey of the Highwaymen. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2009.
Beatty, Bob. Florida’s Highwaymen Legendary Landscapes. Orlando: Historical Society of Central Florida, 2005.
Kuzmanovic, Natasha. Tropical Light: The Art of A. E. Backus. New York: Vendome Press, 2016.
Lewis, Robert III and Lewis, Robert, Jr. A Journey Through the Eyes of An Original Highwayman Artist R.L. Lewis, Jr. Orlando: DOMINIONHOUSE Publishing & Design, 2015.
Butler, Robert and Munoz, Dr. Sheila R. Highwaymen Artists: An Untold Truth. Scotts Valley: CreateSpace, 2014.
Butler, Robert with Munoz, Dr. Sheila R. Timeless Echoes: The Life and Art of Robert Butler. Scotts Valley: CreateSpace, 2014.
Butler, Robert with Munoz, Dr. Sheila R. The Cracker Cowman: The Heritage of Florida Ranches as Depicted by Artist Robert Butler. Scotts Valley: CreateSpace, 2014.
Websites, Musuems, Shops & Galleries
Florida Highway Paintings
http://www.floridahighwaymenpaintings.com/
Florida Highwaymen: From the Roadside to the National Collection
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/collection/florida-highwaymen
The Highwaymen Artists
https://thefloridahighwaymen.com/highwaymen-paintings/
FloridaHighwaymen.com
The Highwaymen: Speed Painting in the Sunshine State
https://www.npr.org/news/specials/2012/highwaymen/
The Highwaymen Trail
https://thehighwaymentrail.com/
Authentic Florida: Celebrating Florida’s Highwaymen, Historic Outsider Artists
Highwaymen Art Gallery, New Smyrna Beach, FL
https://highwaymengallery.weebly.com/highwaymen-art.html
Highwaymen Art Specialists, Vero Beach, FL
http://highwaymenartspecialists.com/
Grant Antique Mall, Grant, FL
http://www.grantantiquemall.com/highwaymen-art.html
Legendary Highwaymen Gallery, Vero Beach, FL
https://raymclendonfloridahighwaymenartgallery.com/legendary-fl-highwaymen
Highwaymen Art Auctions
http://www.rennickauctions.com/florida-highwaymen-paintings/
A.E. Backus Museum & Gallery
Timeless Treasures, Arcadia, FL
http://treasuresarcadiafl.com/Highwaymen-Paintings/
Corey’s Antiques, Arcadia, FL
http://www.corysantiquesarcadia.com/
Rum Runners Antiques, Nokomis, FL
http://www.rumrunnersantiques.com/home-1.html
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