 |
MEMORIES OF THE HIGHWAYMEN
by Kerry Firth
Paintings from the
collection of Kerry Firth |
I
remember when my mother brought home our first Highwaymen painting. Of
course, it wasn’t termed a Highwaymen painting back then. It was the early
seventies and a well mannered, young, black man by the name of James Gibson
came into her Coral Gables office selling his Florida landscape paintings.
She plucked down $35 for a sofa size painting of a lone palm tree leaning
over a narrow river, its reflection glistening in the dark water from the
muted moonlight. The coloring wasn’t exactly realistic in its bold blues and
greens, but it gave her a comfortable feeling of her native back woods
Florida. She liked it, it was affordable, and it was big enough to fill the
wall behind the sofa!
When I moved to
Ft.
Pierce
a few years later I found a Gibson painting in a thrift store. It looked
like the same palm tree, but it was in dark browns and orange tones. I
debated paying $15 for the sofa size painting because it wasn’t the colors I
particularly liked. But, it brought back memories of home, it was
affordable, and it was big enough to fill the wall behind my sofa!
Living in Ft. Pierce, I frequently encountered these young black artists as
they sold their paintings door to door in area offices. Through the years I
acquired a collection of the bold and colorful artwork. I bought some at
thrift stores, some out of the back of the artist’s cars, and some in the
office lobbies. I don’t believe I ever paid more that $50 for one. Little
did I know that these paintings would eventually become coveted collector’s
items and that zeros would be steadily added to their value!
Most of us, by now, know the story of the Highwaymen - a group of 26 black
artists who painted their way out of back-breaking, citrus- picking jobs in
the late 50’s through 80’s. Alfred Hair was the undisputed leader of the
movement. As a student at
Lincoln Park
Academy
in Ft. Pierce, he showed promise as a painter. His high school teacher
arranged for him to study with Bean Backus, an established
Florida
landscape artist living in Ft. Pierce, who was receiving thousands of
dollars for his works. Hair was a quick study and rapidly learned how to
use the pallet knife with bold strokes and sweeping motion to create billowy
clouds, expansive skies and brilliantly colored landscapes.
But
while Backus strived for perfection, Hair focused on speed! After all,
being black in the 50’s didn’t give Hair much of a chance of showing his
work in art shows or galleries. Instead, he painted in volume. He turned
one room of his home into a studio with 2 x 4’s covering the walls. Canvas
was expensive, so he nailed Upson board (an inexpensive construction
material) to the 2x4’s and lined them up side by side. He would create a
horizon line on ten or twelve paintings at a time, painting the skies, then
the clouds, then the landscape in sequence. He was able to turn out a dozen
or so in a day. He framed them with inexpensive crown molding (manufactured
as door and window trim), and sold them door to door for $20 or $30 a
piece.
The
demand escalated beyond even Hair’s ability to speed paint so he enlisted
friends to help, He taught them how to frame initially, and then how to
sell. Eventually he taught them to paint and his group could churn out up
to 40 paintings a day. They took to the highways, stopping at offices,
banks and motels along the way, and soon these dreamlike landscapes graced
the walls of homes and businesses along the coast.
Life was good for the young artists and their dreams were coming true. But,
in August of 1970, Alfred Hair was shot and killed in a
Ft.
Pierce
neighborhood juke joint. Some say he was an innocent bystander, others say
he was caught in a romantic triangle. Whatever the circumstances, the
29-year old leader of the group was gone.
Things changed after Hair’s death, though the artists continued to work into
the 80’s. But, the group was falling apart and some of the artists drifted
away. By the 1980’s Highwaymen paintings seemed passe’ and sales
plummeted. Paintings that were once in such demand, were being left at
thrift stores, and thrown out with the trash.
It
wasn’t until 1995 that Jim Fitch, art critic and director of the Museum of
Florida Art and
Culture in Avon
Park, coined the name Highwaymen when he was researching
Florida
artists. He was fascinated by the folk art nature of this unlikely group of
artists and began to spread the word. A book by Gary Monroe further
popularized the story and a resurgence was born.
Highwaymen paintings now hang in New York Galleries and have become highly
collectible art. Famous collectors include Hubert Humphrey, Crystal Gayle,
Johnnie Cochran, Former Gov. Lawton Chiles and Gov. Jeb Bush. Prices have
soared with most paintings now averaging $500 to $5000. Art dealer, Cody
McQueen of the Bamboo Beach Gallery in Ft. Pierce; a gallery that deals
exclusively in Highwaymen paintings, believes that Highwaymen art will
someday sell in the tens and maybe even hundreds of thousands a piece.
Terry Green, owner of the Grant Antique Mall, who has been collecting and
selling Highwaymen paintings for years, mirrors his opinion.
Yet, you still don’t have to be a Rockefeller to acquire one of these
treasures! The sheer abundance of Highwaymen paintings, estimated to be in
the 200,000’s, keeps them relatively affordable. Many of the original
Highwaymen have come out of retirement and are actively painting again.
There’s even a new generation of Highwaymen offspring aspiring to carry on
the tradition. Granted, the unavailability of Upson board and the
spontaneity and speed of the early movement makes the vintage paintings more
valuable; but most are still within the grasp of the average person.
Stories like mine are abundant on the Treasure Coast, as we live in the
birthplace of the Highwaymen. To me, the story of the movement and the
memories of the young black men who rose beyond the bonds of segregation and
brought art to the masses are far more valuable than the monetary return on
my minimal investment. How wonderful to have lived among these passionate,
freethinkers and watch them finally soar into national fame.
«
Back to Stories & History
Other fun stories of interest:
Postcards &
Pastures
Memories of the Highwaymen
Endangered Sea
Turtles Nest On Our Shores
Discover The
Legend of the Sand Dollar
Area News &
Info
What's In a Name
|
