Johnny Bullard Guest Columnist
As February draws to a close, I decided to write about a unique piece of Florida history that lives on in beautiful and vivid colors and endures and shines in the world today. However, the story behind this piece of Florida history may surprise some of my readers.
Depending on how long you have lived in Florida, you may or may not have heard of the Highwaymen. They are better known today, but not very long ago they were an anonymous group of Florida artists selling original paintings of Florida landscapes from the trunks of their cars.
I first became aware of this group a number of years ago when a traveling exhibit of their work came to my hometown of White Springs during our town's annual Wild Azalea Festival—held in mid-March until COVID-19 shut us down last year and it looks like this year, too. I was enthralled with the group's history and their artwork.
Honestly, I didn't think much more about the Highwaymen and their art until Chadd Mathis, who serves as the Director of the Hamilton County Development Authority, inquired about them. I discussed with him what I knew and he said to me: "I think you should consider writing a newspaper article about the Highwaymen."
It has taken a while but Chadd, here it is. I borrowed some of this information from others.
Though they would not be called the Highwaymen for several decades, these African American artists created a unique chapter in Florida's cultural history. From the 1950s into the 1980s, a total of 26 individuals from Fort Pierce and nearby areas were creating Florida folk art and doing it well under the radar of the art world.
Their resourcefulness and resilience were needed to combat the racism and segregation they faced. The artists were barred from showing their works in galleries, art shows and other venues. In response, the group became very creative and persuasive salespeople. Most notably, the Highwaymen sold their works on the sides of roadways. They would also travel door-to-door and frequented churches and offices. Harold Newton was known to sell his paintings on his bicycle along Florida's famed US-1. Buyers included doctors, lawyers, real estate agents and motel owners. The quintessential Florida scenes were also ideal vacation souvenirs because they were inexpensive and relatively easy to transport. Highwaymen even bartered paintings for gas to fuel their indispensable automobiles.
The artists featured paintings of familiar Florida scenes—crashing waves on windswept beaches, palm trees bent by the wind, majestic Royal Poinciana trees, moss-draped oak trees, red-orange sunsets, billowing clouds and moonlit rivers.
Their palette included vibrant colors of verdant greens, sunset oranges and blues and grays that often featured the sun or moon backlighting the scene. The Highwaymen often painted from memory as they captured scenes of natural Florida they had grown up with, one that was yielding to the development brought on by the state's mid-20th century growth.
By necessity, the men and one woman, Mary Ann Carroll, painted as an alternative to the backbreaking work of picking and packing Florida citrus, a typical job for African Americans in the 1950s. Those days were still part of a racially segregated Jim Crow south and painting, then selling their art, gave them an opportunity to succeed in a whole new way.
They used oil-based paints and painted on Upson board, which is a roof sheeting product, then framed the artwork with crown molding. The artists often painted together, but they didn't sit in front of the landscapes and paint leisurely while admiring the natural beauty around them. Rather, these artists approached their work in a different way, painting in a shaded backyard or a carport or shed, imagining the scenes from imprinted images of their surroundings. Some would work on several paintings at once having affixed the boards to a wall and then stroking in several similar scenes. They worked quickly sometimes using palette knives to cut in highlights.
By using construction materials they cut costs and by working quickly they had more to sell. Then by selling directly they were able to deliver original art at a reasonable cost. They sold the artwork door-to-door or out of their car trunks, mostly along SR-A1A and US-1 on Florida's east coast from Daytona Beach to Miami. Later, some of the artists would travel inland to the growing interior communities.
Directly selling the work, sometimes with the paint still wet, fulfilled an actual need—particularly during Florida's post-WWII population boom. The many "new" Floridians were eager to decorate with art that reflected this new paradise they loved. The artists capitalized on businesses that needed art to adorn their walls—banks, insurance companies, real estate offices, dentist and doctors' offices. They often sold their work for around $25 not only on roadsides but also in the lobbies of businesses as customers entered the buildings.
The paintings proved to be very popular. Soon, what at first had been dismissed as "motel-art" by those in the art scene became an iconic part of authentic Florida.
During the mid-1990s, Florida museum curator and art collector Jim Fitch was credited as recognizing and naming the group as "The Highwaymen."
In 2004, 26 members of The Highwaymen were inducted into the Florida Hall of Fame. Those members inducted were: Curtis Arnett, Hezekiah Baker, Al "Blood" Black, Ellis Buckner, George Buckner, Robert Butler, Mary Ann Carroll, Johnny Daniels, Willie Daniels, Rodney Demps, James Gibson, Alfred Hair, Isaac Knight, Robert Lewis, John Maynor, Roy McLendon, Alfonso "Pancho" Moran, Sam Lemuel and H. Harold Newton, Willie Reagan, Livingston "Castro" Roberts, Cornell "Pete" Smith, Charles Walker, Sylvester Wells and Charles "Chico" Wheeler.
Some of the Highwaymen, many in their 70s and 80s, still exhibit their art around the state, which has evolved into more methodical slower-paced art. Nowadays their paintings are highly prized, commanding much more than the original selling price. The work is also featured in museums, traveling exhibits, galleries and private collections throughout the state and country.
From the Eight Mile Still on the Woodpecker Route north of White Springs, wishing you a day filled with joy, peace and, above all, lots of love and laughter.