News & Events

Mid-America News
Show Calendar
State Event Calendars

Regular Features

The Antique Detective
Antique Detective Q&A
Common Sense Antiques
Refurnished Thoughts
Traveling with Ken
Good Eye
Books for Collectors

Directories & Classifieds

The Finder: Unique Shops
Lodgings Directory
Museum Directory
  Aviation Museums
Wineries in the Heartland

Classifieds
Web Links

Archived Features

Antiquing in Colorado
Dealer Profile Archive
Editor's Notebook
Heirloom Recipes
Helpful Hints
   for Collectors
Is This An Antique?
Past Cover Features
Reflecting History

2005 Best Of Winners
Destinations 2006

Discovery Mid-America March 2010

Florida ‘Highwaymen’ created collectible art

An art phenomenon that began nearly 60 years ago in Florida has produced some 200,000 paintings and a red-hot category for art collectors. Despite the current economic recession, galleries and antique malls throughout the state and elsewhere are seeing increased interest in works by the Florida Highwaymen.

For nearly 30 years, beginning in the early 1950s, a small group of African-American men from Fort Pierce, Florida began painting scenes of the Indian River area on the state’s “treasure coast.” The mostly self-taught artists developed their own styles, using bright colors, to depict waterscapes featuring palms, beaches and marshland. Many art critics of the day dubbed the paintings “cheap tourist art.”

Rich Kerchner and a few of his 300 Highwaymen paintings (photos by Ken Weyand)

Cheap it was. When Alfred Hair, the original Highwayman, began painting with the encouragement and support of A. E. “Bean” Backus, a prominent white artist, his average landscape sold for $25 to $35. Hair shared his newly discovered talents with a few of his friends, creating a social community of artists that eventually became known as the Highwaymen.

It was America before the Civil Rights Movement. For the most part, African-American artists were ostracized from galleries. Many Highwaymen peddled their paintings to hotels, restaurants, banks and other businesses, but most sold their works directly to tourists out of the trunks of their cars. It was this roadside one-on-one selling that gave the group its name. The world was introduced to “Highwaymen” in 1995 when Florida art collector and museum curator Jim Fitch coined the term in an art journal.

Lacking traditional materials, many of the artists painted on inexpensive Upson board or Masonite. Their homemade frames add to the value of these early works.

At its peak, the Highwaymen group numbered 26 artists, including one woman. Although changes in public taste for art caused the group to disband in the 1980s, a resurgence of interest a decade later caused several of the original artists to resume painting. In 2004, the original group of 26 was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.

In the small town of Grant, 30 miles north of Fort Pierce, is the Grant Antique Mall, which has sold Highwaymen art for years. Rich Kerchner, the mall’s owner, claims his store has the largest selection of original Highwaymen art anywhere.

“We have approximately 300 paintings,” he said, “with prices ranging from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. I’ve sold three for more than $20,000.”

Many of the paintings in Kerchner’s mall were painted on Upson board, which was no longer manufactured by 1980. “The older paintings normally command the best prices,” Kerchner said.

“A few of the Highwaymen continued to paint when their work went out of fashion,” Kerchner added. “There is some resentment among these artists of the others who left to work in other fields, then came back when the market improved.”

In his hometown of Fort Pierce, neighbors of A.E. “Bean” Backus considered him an “eccentric artist” who enjoyed the company of blacks and their music. One of his closest friends was Alfred Hair, an ambitious young black man who became Backus’ pupil and protégé. Hair’s work ethic and abilities as an artist and salesman put him at the forefront of the Highwaymen movement. Later, Hair would become a friend and mentor of other artists until his untimely death in a barroom shooting at the age of 41.

A painting by Alfred Hair, the original Highwaymen artist (from a print)

Harold Newton, already a serious artist when he met Backus is 1954, worked with him for several years, studying his technique. With Bachus’ help, Newton mastered the use of the palette knife, a technique used by many of the Highwaymen.

Bachus’ works and many Highwaymen paintings can be seen at the A.E. Backus Museum & Gallery in Fort Pierce. Located near Backus’ original studio, the facility is open Wednesday thru Sunday, 11-4 from September thru mid-July. Summer hours are by appointment.

The sharply rising value of Highwaymen paintings has inspired many imitators, many claiming to sell Highwaymen art. However, only art by the original 26 Highwaymen is considered authentic. Because a portion of the art being sold on eBay and other outlets may use forgeries of the original artist signatures, it is important for buyers to research the paintings to be assured the art is genuine. Visit www.floridahighwaymenpantings.com to find images of authentic paintings and other resources.

Jim Fitch wrote in 1995 when he coined the highwaymen term: “Somewhere I’ve heard it said that one sure road to success is to ‘find a need and fill it.’ These black artists did just that. Whether we are willing to accept their work as ‘art’ or not is an argument I won’t make. I do know that by painting for the marketplace they inadvertently created an awareness of and appreciation for Florida regional art. They deserve recognition for that contribution.”

Ken Weyand can be contacted at kweyand1@kc.rr.com

> Traveling with Ken Archive — past columns

Sur la Cote d'AzurArt Print
Broders, Roger
Buy at AllPosters.com