Every great work of art has two faces, one toward its own time and one toward toward eternity. Daniel Barenboim
Go to www.florida-arts.org/programs/halloffame for a complete list of 25 African-American men and one woman, that became popularly known as The Highwaymen.
by Victoria Mares-Hershey
While in Florida at an arts and crafts show, I became aware of the Indian River school of painting. African-American artists, living smack in the middle of a time of racial violence against black people in the south, cut their road with art to become founders of Florida’s contemporary art tradition. On either side of 1950, 25 African American men and one woman, on the west coast of Florida started painting color-saturated, dramatic, often surreal natural landscapes of the Indian River Valley around them. Much later, they were described as “the Highwaymen,” a name that falls far short of their identity as artists. Originators of the “ Indian River school of painting” comes closer to the roots of their work.They lived in and around the Gifford, Florida and the Ft. Pierce area, where they turned their backyards, homes and garage spaces into studios. Most of the artists were in their 20’s when they started painting to sell, some had painted in their teens and one, at the age of 10, had sold a painting to his teacher for $25.
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| Art by Mary Ann Carroll |
Every great work of art has two faces, one toward its own time and one toward toward eternity. Daniel Barenboim
Go to www.florida-arts.org/programs/halloffame for a complete list of 25 African-American men and one woman, that became popularly known as The Highwaymen.
by Victoria Mares-Hershey
While in Florida at an arts and crafts show, I became aware of the Indian River school of painting. African-American artists, living smack in the middle of a time of racial violence against black people in the south, cut their road with art to become founders of Florida’s contemporary art tradition. On either side of 1950, 25 African American men and one woman, on the west coast of Florida started painting color-saturated, dramatic, often surreal natural landscapes of the Indian River Valley around them. Much later, they were described as “the Highwaymen,” a name that falls far short of their identity as artists. Originators of the “ Indian River school of painting” comes closer to the roots of their work.They lived in and around the Gifford, Florida and the Ft. Pierce area, where they turned their backyards, homes and garage spaces into studios. Most of the artists were in their 20’s when they started painting to sell, some had painted in their teens and one, at the age of 10, had sold a painting to his teacher for $25.
