Page 21 - 2018 Mar-Apr Art-i-facts

Detail of a Florida Highwaymen painting provided by the City of Davenport.
Florida Highwaymen Visit Davenport

Who are the Florida Highwaymen? for the whole group, Roy McLendon and James Gibson, continued to
From the early 1950s through the 1980s, a group of twenty-six paint and sell their art. Due to a recent surge in demand for their work,
African-American artists painted vivid settings that displayed the over the past 20 years or so, several of the original highwaymen have
serene, undeveloped Florida landscape of their time. They painted come back to painting.
wind-bent palm trees, serene sunsets, churning oceans and bright
red Poinciana trees. These paintings looked great on the walls Why are the Florida Highwaymen Famous?
of businesses and homes. Today these artists are known as the In the early 1990’s an interest in “outsider art” or art which is created
Florida Highwaymen, and because of the tranquil scenes and by artists who are outside mainstream society, developed in the art
history involved, their original paintings are highly in demand by world and in 1995 an article was written for a journal by Jim Fitch
collectors and enthusiasts.. who coined the group the “Highwaymen” because of their tactics of
traveling I-95 and A1A to sell their artwork. Not long after this the New
The original Florida Highwayman, Alfred Hair, was introduced to York Times wrote an article on the Florida Highwaymen and many
a prominent white artist named A.E. “Bean” Backus in the early books on the group have been published since then, causing the value
1950s. Under the arm of Mr. Backus, Alfred was encouraged to of Florida Highwaymen art to skyrocket.
paint landscapes and realized that he could make a living doing
it. Alfred encouraged several of his friends to begin painting as In 2004, the 26 original Florida Highwaymen were inducted into
well. Soon the Florida Highwaymen became a sort of social group. the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. These artists are credited with
encouraging the beginning of the “Indian River School” and “Backus”
The artists knew they could make a living painting, but they knew art movements and have many followers, but these 26 individuals are
they had to be different. Mr. Backus was a prominent white artist the only true Florida Highwaymen.
and could sell his paintings for hundreds of dollars in galleries and
shows; no gallery would show the work of unknown, self-taught
African-Americans. Instead they painted from their garages The City of Davenport is pleased to bring Florida Highwaymen artists to
and back yards on inexpensive Upson board and then on the Davenport. The Extravaganza starts Friday, March 2, 2018 with a dinner.
Tickets for this event are sold only in advance and are $50 per person.
weekends they would travel and sell their paintings to hotels, Each artist brings a painting for the live auction that takes place after
offices, businesses and individuals who appreciated the artwork dinner, and a Highwaymen artist is seated at each table during dinner.
for around $25 a piece.
On Saturday, March 3, a free art show is open to the public. One or more
Not as yet known as the Florida Highwaymen, the group unofficially of the artists will paint at the event. The Saturday event is held at the
Davenport Community Center at 5 South Allapaha Avenue from 10am to
disbanded after the death of Alfred Hair. A few of the original 4pm. Learn more on page 5 or by visiting www.mydavenport.org.
Florida Highwaymen such as Al Black who was the salesperson

Art-i-facts • A Publication of the Polk Arts Alliance 21