Florida Highwaymen Art Exhibit In Palmetto, FL

Where: Palmetto Historical Park and Manatee County Agricultural Museum, 515 10th Ave, W., Palmetto, FL

What: Florida Highwaymen Exhibit, July 10, 2015 - August 15, 2015

Phone: 941-723-4991

The Florida Highwaymen Are Florida History

The Florida Highwaymen represent a historically significant art movement in Florida that began in the racially segregated 1950s Florida.  Two of the original Highwaymen,  Harold Newton and Alfred Hair, learned their skills under the guidance of renowned landscape  artist Albert Ernest "Bean" Backus in the Ft. Pierce area.  As time went on other artists joined the movement.  They painted vibrant, colorful Florida landscapes.  Unable to sell their paintings in white-owned galleries, the men took to the highway selling their paintings door-to-door in homes and businesses; for as little as $20 apiece.  It was one of the few livelihoods available to an African American other than manual labor during this time.

In 1995 term "Highwaymen" was conceived by a Florida museum curator, Jim Fitch.  As the work of these incredibly talented artists came to be more widely known the prices of their works began to skyrocket.  Today many of the paintings sell for thousands of dollars and the original Florida Highwaymen have been inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. Several of the original Highwaymen continue to paint today, have their own galleries and appear at various art venues around the state.  More information can be found at Florida Highwaymen Art.

Keith Kropp
Broker Associate
J Wood Realty
941-587-8376

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