- April 3, 2025
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Twenty-six artists. One vision.
Community members delved into the legacy of the Highwaymen artists with a lecture by Kevin Costello on Feb. 11.
Costello, the educational director for the Ringling Museum and a studio artist and instructor at Ringling College of Art and Design, stood before the packed lecture hall, using a pointer to illustrate on a screen how the artists used contrasting colors and subtle geometric framing to capture old Florida’s iconic landscapes.
The Education Center at Temple Beth Israel is displaying the works of 22 of the artists in its halls until Feb. 16, made possible through an anonymous donor, to recognise Black History Month.
Community members, including Charles Bosserman, who affectionately remembers purchasing works by one of the artists, took time after the lecture to peruse the art, pointing out the elements illuminated by the guest lecturer.
Costello started by acknowledging how unique the Highwaymen community is. The cohort of mostly African American artists worked together, often painting in the same field at the same time, and successfully pursued commercial success and recognition for their work.
Their painting often shared similar subjects, like the eye-catchingly scarlet royal poinciana and looping trunks of palm trees. Their works often focused on nature scenes in swamps and on beaches, with minimal focus on human figures. The artists gained their moniker from selling their paintings out of their cars, often for $20-$30 a piece.
Leading the charge was Florida native Albert E. “Beanie” Backus, considered the “dean” of the group. They made a tradition of welcoming in new artists, including Alfred Hair, who played a key role in the marketing element of their art.
“In a short period of time, Hair’s enterprise grew into a full-fledged business,” Costello said. “A growing group of salesmen took the artists’ work out on the road and sold them to doctors’ offices, motels and other professional and retail establishments — no mean feat in the Jim Crow-era South, where galleries and traditional venues for artists were off-limits to Black painters.
“While Backus himself and the majority of his clientele were white, young Black artists discovered in Backus a welcoming mentor in whose paintings they could find inspiration, a style they could emulate, and a marketability upon which they could expand,” Costello said.
Each artist shared certain elements and subjects, but they also showed their personal flare. Costello pointed out the Salvador Dali-esque surreal elements of Alfred Hair, and the pointillism in others’ work. Several of the artists, including Hezekiah Baker, also favored using thick layers of paint to bring extra textural elements to their works, the full effect only coming to light when seen in person.
These artists had to contend with the social injustices of the time, but also with deeply personal loss. Hair was shot and killed in 1970 at only 29 years old.
Costello said they produced an estimated 200,000 works that now hold a special place in the state’s artistic fabric.
Officials inducted the central 26 artists to the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2004.
The center’s display notably includes works by artist Mary Ann Carroll, the lone woman in the cohort and a favorite artist of former first lady Michelle Obama.
The display continues only for a few more days, but art appreciators can find their works in places, including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Museum of Florida History.
