The Florida Highwaymen
By Dr. Michael Butler
Creativity in the arts can emerge from the most unlikely of places. What some consider the last great American Art Movement of the 20th century emerged from southeast Florida at the hands of itinerant, self-taught African-American artists.
The movement emerged from the rural segregated Jim Crow south. Presented with limited social and economic opportunities in the 1960s, Blacks sought opportunities wherever they could. Refusing to be defined by agricultural labor, low wages and the constraints of racial segregation, they fought mightily to expand their prospects. In Florida, most Blacks were destined to have lives filled with “planting, picking, and packing,” the group of artists destined to become the Highwaymen were determined to break through this cycle and make a living doing something else—creating art.
The unofficial leader of the group was Alfred Hair. Hair, a resident of Fort Pierce, was a good student and athlete. His art teacher, Ms. Zenobia Jefferson, recognized his artistic gifts and introduced him to his future mentor, Alfred E. Backus, a white artist. Hair enrolled in college, but left after two years. Back home, he honed his skills and won recognition for his art. It is debated how much “art” he learned from Backus, but it is certain Backus planted the idea and provided a living example that he could make a living from art. All of the artists in the collective displayed varying degrees of artistic talent at early ages, but art making was no more than an interesting hobby until they made and sold their creations.
Hair was not satisfied with accolades. His art was always a means to an end. Above all, Hair wanted to live the “good life”— money in his pocket, fast cars and an active social life. Hair was determined to make a life through art. This spirit was infused throughout the group.
The market for Florida landscape paintings was a solid one. Floridians were proud of their locale and wished to see it reflected on their walls. In the 1960s, Jim Fitch, a marketer, coined the term ‘Highwaymen’ for the collective based on the fact that they sold paintings along east coast of Florida along US 1 from Fort Pierce to Daytona Beach ostensibly “out of the trunks of their cars.” This was not entirely true, but was effective.
The Highwaymen artists stuck to the established conventions of Florida landscape art. They emphasized the interface between land and water—especially rivers, streams swamps, mangroves, beaches, thickets, and lagoons. The unique flora of Florida was highlighted—Poinciana and Cypress trees, live oaks, palms, Spanish Moss and wild orchids. Fauna was not usually depicted with the exception of birds. Birds were featured in in a majority of works. Atmospherics played an outsize role in many of the depictions. Bright blue skies with the occasional puffy clouds and bright orange sunsets were a staple in a number of images. By combining these elements, the images displayed a spiritual reverence for the landscape. The Florida of the imagination was a place of idyllic, unspoiled nature that needed capturing before it “disappeared.”
At its zenith, the Highwaymen grew to 24 men and one woman They were self-taught, but firmly familiar with the norms of landscape art. Their works usually possessed a dominant horizontal orientation. Light was used very specifically to allow the viewer to accurately discern the time of day and the season of the year. Nature was faithfully rendered in realistic colors. Florida landscapes were very volatile when changing weather was considered. Images often reflected the weather’s influence highlighting the tenuous and transitory nature of Florida’s environments. Overall, their techniques resulted in images that were emotionally evocative and compelling. Hair perfected his plan to make his living creating art. His economic model was quite different from the Backus approach. Backus had gallery representation and commissioned sales to rely upon. He made art slowly as in one piece per week. His price points were high ($200 to $500 per piece).
Learn more about the only female Highwaymen in the video below:
The remainder of this article, plus works by the Highwaymen, can be found in the Fall/Winter Issue of Pigment Magazine.
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"Upon Her Shoulders"
Artist Gerald Griffin has commemorated our first female, first African American and first Indian American Vice President, Kamala Harris, who was inaugurated alongside the country's 46th President Joseph R. Biden on January 20th, in a stunning oil painting.
Griffin has also done a life-sized sculpture of Harris (below) as part of his Monuments Series, which imagines a holistic approach to public monuments that encompasses all of history, including the challenging and oftentimes painful.
The above oil on canvas painting is 30" X 40" and available for $8,500. Limited edition giclees are available for $1500. For info pigmentintl@gmail.com.
InIn
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The Black Art History You Didn't Know
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Your copy should address 3 key questions: Who am I writing for? (Audience) Why should they care? (Benefit) What do I want them to do here? (Call-to-Action)
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Just for Artists
(...and the Art's community)
SECC is announcing the opening of a Call for Project Proposalsand Rolling Application Process for its pilot Equitable Investment in the Arts (EIA) Seed Fellowship Cohort. The one-year fellowship is open to qualified Chicago-based Creative Entrepreneurs and will provide technical assistance, capacity building and micro-grants between $3,000 and $20,000.
Legal advice is a necessity for all businesses, and the arts are no exception. However, most artists cannot afford market rate legal services. That’s where LCA comes in. LCA is the only pro bono legal service organization in Illinois that is expert in all areas of the arts. Now in our 49th year, we have assisted thousands of artists and arts organizations of all kinds with their legal issues. Click on Legal Help for more detailed information and to apply for help.
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To Watch, Read and See!
Pimen99th
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Meet one of the artist behind the Obama Foundation Care Challenge #OFCareChallenge
Martha A. Wade | Visual Artist | Chicago, IL
Martha A. Wade brought the concept of a mutual aid network to life in a stunning painting. Martha drew on her unique style to show the value in caring for your community, whether that means tapping into an existing mutual aid network or starting one from scratch.
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African American Auction at Cowan's
February 18 | 10am ET
Cowan's is delighted to present its first dedicated various owner African Americana auction on February 18. The sale features a diverse selection of books, imprints, manuscripts, newspapers, photographs, posters, and ephemera dating from the 18th century through the mid-20th century, representing themes such as slavery & abolition, militaria, civil rights, politics, art, literature, and more. A number of influential figures including Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Madam C.J. Walker, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, and Angela Davis are represented in the auction.
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Lavita McMath Turner (Below), the new chief diversity officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, said “equity and inclusion are everyone’s responsibility.”
PhotoCredit...
James Estrin/The New York Times
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BIDEN ADMINISTRATION COMMITS TO PUTTING HARRIET TUBMAN ON THE $20 BILL
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"Get a Room" on Clubhouse |
We've been a part of some great convos on Clubhouse. A Black Women Collector's Series will host their third session next week. Another free-wheeling session for artists is great and a third for gallery owners has been informative. Chicago artists Dana Todd Pope, Angelica London and Tyler Clark host 'Sunday Dinner" a great place for artists and art entrepreneurs to share resources and inspirations. 6:00 p.m. on Sundays.
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Pigment Magazine now available on Amazon
Thanks to the AARP Foundation - Experience Corp for including Pigment Magazine as part of their February Art Therapy 2021 gift box. Pigment artist Paul Branton will share his art journey during the session.
Contact us to purchase Pigment Magazine as gifts for your next event.
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