The Highwaymen: African American Visions of the Florida Landscape

A single-owner collection of works by the Florida Highwaymen, a collective of 26 African American landscape painters formed in the 1950s. Denied the opportunity to show their work in the art galleries of the Jim Crow South, these artists, led by Harold Newton and Alfred Hair, drove up and down the roads of Southeast Florida selling their paintings out of the trunks of their cars. Their vibrant scenery and enterprising spirit stand as an inspiring example of Black art overcoming adverse circumstances, and today each member of the Highwaymen are inductees of the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.

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In the mid-1950s, aspiring young African American painters Harold Newton and Alfred Hair, under the guidance of their mentor Bean Backus, focused their attention on capturing the unique scenery of the Florida landscape. Though their colorful and modern styles would prove to be highly marketable, they were flatly denied the opportunity to show their work in art galleries — Black artists were rarely given such representation in the Jim Crow South. Instead, Newton found success selling his landscapes from the trunk of his car, driving up and down Florida’s highways in search of patrons. Hair soon followed suit and began to teach other enterprising young painters, all tirelessly traveling the region to sell their paintings roadside to anyone who would buy: offices, tourists, and locals. Eventually, this loosely-formed group grew to 26 African American artists, each creating vibrant renditions of the subtropical landscape around them. They would come to be known as the Florida Highwaymen.

Circle Auction is proud to present this single-owner collection of 35 Highwaymen paintings, featuring 17 landscapes by “the original Highwayman” Harold Newton, as well as works by Alfred Hair, Roy McLendon, Livingston Roberts, Mary Ann Carroll, Al Black, Willie Daniels, Sam Newton, Lemuel Newton, Willie Reagan, and George Buckner.