Pigment_fall winter 2020

Inaugural Black Fine Art Month Panelists:

Perri Irmer, President and CEO of the DuSable Museum of African American History; Candace Hunter, Visual artist/ Culture writer/ Curator;
Lolly Bowean, Chicago Tribune, Reporter; Christopher Reed, Professor Emeritus of History at Roosevelt University in Chicago/
and Author; Dayo Laoye, Nigerian-American painter/ art; Cierra McKisack, Founder of AMFM, a creative arts brand;

Faheem Majeed, Artist/educator/curator; Abdul Alkalmat, co-author , The Wall of Respect: Public Art and Black Liberation in 1960s Chicago
and convener of The Organization of Black American Culture (OBA-C); Angel Idowu, WTTW – PBS Chicago, Arts Reporter; Daniel Duster,
Co-founder, Ida B. Wells Foundation; Clinee Hedspeth, CEO, Hedspeth Art Consulting; Arlene Crawford, Artist/Curator; Rahmaan Statik,

Public Muralist/Artist; Debra Hand, Sculptor/artist/ author; Haki R. Madhubuti, poet, essayist, editor and publisher; Soraya Shepard, Founder,
Color Me Africa; Yaoundé Olu, PhD, Afro-futurist artist/educator/ writer/ astrologer/uni-physician; Dorian Sylvain, Muralist/Artist;
Juarez Hawkins, Artist/performer/ educator/curator; Angela Williams, Deputy Creative Director, Museum of Science and Industry;
Theodore Williams III, Professor/ Commentator/ Performing Artist/Producer & Director - 1619 musical

PA S T … P R E S E N T … F U T U R E

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Give To The DuSable Museum Today

The DuSable Museum of African American History Smithsonian
740 East 56th Place, Chicago, Illinois 60637 Institution

773 . 947 . 0600 / www.dusablemuseum.org

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The Florida Highwaymen

ARTISTIC AND ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS

By Dr. Michael Butler, Griot Gallery

Creativity in the arts can emerge from the most unlikely of places. At its zenith, the Highwaymen grew to 24 men and one woman They
What some consider the last great American Art Movement were self-taught, but firmly familiar with the norms of landscape art.
of the 20th century emerged from southeast Florida at the hands Their works usually possessed a dominant horizontal orientation.
of itinerant, self-taught African-American artists. Light was used very specifically to allow the viewer to accurately
The movement emerged from the rural segregated Jim Crow south. discern the time of day and the season of the year. Nature was
Presented with limited social and economic opportunities in the faithfully rendered in realistic colors. Florida landscapes were very
1960s, Blacks sought opportunities wherever they could. Refusing volatile when changing weather was considered. Images often
to be defined by agricultural labor, low wages and the constraints of reflected the weather’s influence highlighting the tenuous and tran-
racial segregation, they fought mightily to expand their prospects. In sitory nature of Florida’s environments. Overall, their techniques
Florida, most Blacks were destined to have lives filled with “planting, resulted in images that were emotionally evocative and compelling.
picking, and packing,” the group of artists destined to become the Hair perfected his plan to make his living creating art. His economic
Highwaymen were determined to break through this cycle and make model was quite different from the Backus approach. Backus had
a living doing something else creating art. gallery representation and commissioned sales to rely upon. He
The unofficial leader of the group was Alfred Hair. Hair, a resident made art slowly as in one piece per week. His price points were high
of Fort Pierce, was a good student and athlete. His art teacher, ($200 to $500 per piece).
Ms. Zenobia Jefferson, recognized his artistic gifts and introduced
him to his future mentor, Alfred E. Backus, a white artist. Hair
enrolled in college, but left after two years. Back home, he honed his
skills and won recognition for his art. It is debated how much “art”
he learned from Backus, but it is certain Backus planted the idea and
provided a living example that he could make a living from art. All
of the artists in the collective displayed varying degrees of artistic
talent at early ages, but art making was no more than an interesting
hobby until they made and sold their creations.

Hair was not satisfied with accolades. His art was always a means
to an end. Above all, Hair wanted to live the “good life”— money in
his pocket, fast cars and an active social life. Hair was determined to
make a life through art. This spirit was infused throughout the group.

The market for Florida landscape paintings was a solid one. “Indian River Scene with Bridging Palms” artist Alfred Hair,
Floridians were proud of their locale and wished to see it reflected
on their walls. In the 1960s, Jim Fitch, a marketer, coined the term Conversely, the Highwaymen adopted a different economic model,
‘Highwaymen’ for the collective based on the fact that they sold employing an assembly line approach to maximize their output.
paintings along the east coast of Florida, US 1 from Fort Pierce to They worked fast, frequently making 5-10 pieces per day. To further
Daytona Beach, ostensibly “out of the trunks of their cars.” This was minimize costs, they used economical materials—Upson boards
not entirely true, but was effective. replaced Backus’s canvases and crown molding was used for
The Highwaymen artists stuck to the established conventions of framing. And, in addition to production, they were their own sales
Florida landscape art. They emphasized the interface between land force, engaging in direct selling to their customers They priced their
and water—especially rivers, streams swamps, mangroves, beaches, works, on average, at under $50. The quality of the paintings was
thickets, and lagoons. The unique flora of Florida was highlighted good, and the prices were competitive in the extreme, well under the
Poinciana and Cypress trees, live oaks, palms, Spanish Moss and prices of comparable gallery landscapes. Collectors were offered a
wild orchids. Fauna was not usually depicted with the exception high-value product.
of birds. Birds were featured in a majority of works. Atmospherics Salesmanship was an integral part of their approach. A quote
played an outsize role in many of the depictions. Bright blue skies attributed to Highwayman Al Black was “A painting isn’t finished
with the occasional puffy clouds and bright orange sunsets were until it’s sold.” Value triumphed over racial stereotypes.
a staple in a number of images. By combining these elements, the
images displayed a spiritual reverence for the landscape. The
Florida of the imagination was a place of idyllic, unspoiled nature
that needed capturing before it “disappeared.”

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Work by artist Al Black Jr.

Interest in acquiring works by the Highwaymen remains high today. Black artists painting Florida landscapes and selling them
Determining the value of individual works can be a fraught exercise. directly to the white public in the age of segregation was an
The basis of valuation depends on the individual artist. Alfred Hair, inherently transgressive act. The “artistic space,” if you will, was
Harold Newton, Al Black, Jr., and Mary Ann Carroll (the sole female decidedly a white domain. Today, we speak of identity politics as
member) command higher prices. Image size is a factor, and in this a bad thing; however, historically, when Black people did anything
case, bigger is better. they could not, even for a minute, forget that they were Black.
Signatures are important when authenticity is in question. Condition The fact that the Highwaymen could compete successfully, both
is a significant factor because these paintings were not made for the artistically and economically, was a testament to their ingenuity,
long haul—paint loss, flaking, foxing, water spots, dirt, etc. must be creativity and organizational and entrepreneurial skills.
considered. We also should keep in mind that some of the earlier Calming, pleasant and recreating a pristine, unspoiled view of
paintings are decades old. As always, market forces and both the nature, the images created by the Highwaymen are treasures that fit
local economy and general economy play roles in valuing the works. into a wide variety of settings. They have received widespread attention,
Overall, the value of the artistic output of this group of artists has certainly in Florida, but they are appreciated by collectors across the
held up well, and paintings which were sold below $100 are now country.
commanding prices in the five-figure range, with especially fine
exemplars going for six figures. Relatives of the original Highwaymen Photos courtesy of Dr. Michael Butler, Griot Gallery
painted in the tradition and style of the originals. Some writers include
these later artists in the lineage of the Highwaymen.

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Art by Kevin Williams

A Tribute to
Congressman John Lewis

Statesman, Protester, Good Trouble Maker, Art Collector

“I have collected African American art for almost 50 years. Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence and Charles White are the
primary artists in my collection. I developed an appreciation for art when I was in school in Nashville during the 1960s. The
great artist, Aaron Douglass, taught me art appreciation at Fisk University, and during the height of the Civil Rights Movement,
African-American art served as an inspiration to us all. Seeing our work in the struggle depicted on canvas or in other forms of
fine art was very uplifting. My appreciation for African-American art grew out of these experiences,” Congressman John Lewis

From an interview with Danielle Issacs, Fine Arts Specialist at Adam A. Weschler and Son, April 2016

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pigment International™

Salutes

Samella Lewis

Artist, Educator, Author, Art Collector, Art Historian, Curator, Movement Founder, Activist, Museum Founder

The Masquerade,1951,oil, 31” x 27”, artist Samella Lewis
Photo by Robert Hail

“Art is not a luxury as many people think – it is a necessity. It documents history,
it helps educate people, and stores knowledge for generations to come.”

– Samella Lewis