Organic colors were not their main focus they wanted to wow buyers with burnt-orange Florida skies or unnaturally florescent clouds." Membership Painting en plein air style, the Highwaymen artists "eschew any formal color theory and rel on instinct and intuition to depict their steady stream of beaches, palm trees and Everglades scenes. Sometimes the paintings were stacked before the oil paint was dry. They packed these paintings into the trunks of their cars and sold them door-to-door throughout the south-eastern coast of Florida. Excluded from the traditional world of art shows and galleries, the Highwaymen painted on inexpensive upson board or masonite and framed their paintings with crown molding (brushed with gold or silver paint to "antique" them). The Highwaymen were mostly self-taught painters, who mentored each other. Over time their style has evolved into more carefully created works and away from the original "fast painting" techniques that enabled them to produce large quantities of paintings in their early years. Of the remaining artists in the original group (13 deceased) all but one artist continue to paint to this day, more than 50 years since they first started to paint, even though most artists are now in their 70s and some nearing their 80s. Their renown grew internationally during the early 2000s and the 26 members have been recognized for their extensive contribution and 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. This activity increased the value of the artwork and created further demand. The attention created new interest for their idyllic landscapes of natural settings in Florida igniting sales of the paintings. Petersburg Times wrote several newspaper articles about the group whom Fitch dubbed "The Florida Highwaymen" for their business of selling art door-to-door along Florida's Highway 1. In the mid-1990s Jim Fitch, a Florida art historian, and Jeff Klinkenberg, of the St. By the 1980s, a shift in public tastes and the growth of corporate entities like Disney World further reduced the demand for the movement's art. In 1970, the group lost its charismatic leader when Hair was killed in a barroom brawl at age 29 and the prodigious output of the movement's artists began to wane. Newton is recognized by fellow artists for his technical inspiration while Hair is the considered the leader and catalyst "who set the tone for the group through the 1960s." They attracted a group of a "young, energetic" artists who painted large quantities of brilliantly colorful impressionistic landscapes that they each sold from their cars. Newton and Hair inspired a loose-knit group of African American artists to follow their leads. The following year, 14-year-old Alfred Hair began taking formal art lessons from Backus and, after three years, also began selling landscape paintings. Newton sold his landscapes from the trunk of his car because art galleries in South Florida refused to represent African Americans. Backus, a prominent Florida landscape artist, to create paintings of landscapes rather than religious scenes. In 1955, 19-year-old African American artist Harold Newton was convinced by A. They have been called "The Last Great American Art Movement of the 20th century". Their success and longevity is remarkable considering they began their career in the racially unsettled and violent times of the 50s in Florida and amid the social conditions of the Jim Crow South where the stirrings of the civil rights movement were only just beginning. As no galleries would accept their work, they sold them in towns and cities and along roadsides throughout Florida, often still wet, out of the trunks of their cars. The Highwaymen created large numbers of relatively inexpensive landscape paintings using construction materials rather than traditional art supplies. They also sold their work from the trunks of their cars along the eastern coastal roads ( A1A and US 1). Mostly from the Fort Pierce area, they painted landscapes and made a living selling them door-to-door to businesses and individuals throughout Florida from the mid-1950s through the 1980s. They challenged many racial and cultural barriers. It is believed they may have created a body of work of over 200,000 paintings. Two of the original artists, Harold Newton, and Alfred Hair, received training from Alfred “Beanie” Backus. The Highwaymen, also referred to as the Florida Highwaymen, are a group of 26 African American landscape artists in Florida. For other artists, see Highwayman (disambiguation). This article is about the landscape painters.
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