The Highwaymen
The “Highwaymen” is a tag given to a loose-knit group of self-taught African American artists painting on the East coast of Florida; scenes of wind-bent palm trees, sand, surf, billowing clouds and vivid sunsets that were the essentials of Florida landscape painting that emerged following World War II. The name derived from their unique marketing strategy that consisted of traveling the highways and byways of central Florida to sell their paintings out of the back of their cars.
It is thought that they number some 20 artists that are still living, however for the most part many are unknown and have never received credit for their contribution to Florida’s art tradition. During these decades this group of friends, relatives and neighbors produced and sold an estimated 50,000 to 200,000 landscape paintings for $10 to $35 a piece, so the paintings were readily affordable to the average middle-class white worker.
They created an awareness of and appreciation for Florida regional landscape art and have encouraged what is considered the Indian River school of painting. They learned to paint by observation and practice; perhaps with a natural, untraditional lifestyle of marginalized and impoverished bent – however, painting for them was perceived a being a way out of the fields and groves.
This somewhat eclectic style of Florida landscape paintings were usually done on Upsom board or Masonite with whatever materials were at hand, including house paint. These paintings today sell and resell upwards from $1000; and, as these artists developed their talents and skills they gained respectable reputations and some still retain the highway marketing technique of promoting their artwork directly to the art collector.
Featured above is an oil painting by Harold Newton (1934-1994) on Upsom board measuring 30×48 inches executed in the 1960’s. It was the first highwayman painting to reach $10,000 when it sold in 2001.
