| Now on Temporary Exhibit at the St. Petersburg Museum of History:
Original Highwaymen Paintings!
About the Florida Highwaymen:
In the early 1950’s through the 1980’s a group of twenty-six African-American artists known as the "Florida Highwaymen" used vivid and bright colors to display the beautiful untouched Florida landscape. The Florida Highwaymen painted wind-bent palm trees, serene sunsets, churning oceans and bright red Poinciana trees. They painted from their garages and back yards on inexpensive Upson board and then on the weekends they would travel and sell their Highwaymen paintings to hotels, offices, businesses and individuals who appreciated the artwork for around $25 a piece.
In 2004 the 26 original Florida Highwaymen were inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. The Highwaymen are credited for encouraging the beginning of the "Indian River School" and "Backus" art movements and have many followers but these 26 individuals are the only true "Highwaymen
Collecting Florida Highwaymen art has become an exciting, but often expensive, hobby. The market for an original work of art by a Florida Highwayman can easily bring $5,000 or more. Some of the Highwaymen who are still living have resumed painting to meet the continuing demand for their work. Please take your time to browse our collection on loan from Safety Harbor Museum of regional History’s Delaplane Collection.
THE DELAPLANE COLLECTION
These Highwaymen paintings were not acquired over a long period of time with a goal of completeness or an eye to investment. The collection was a spontaneous event; a happy passion inspired by my husband Channing’s affection for Bean Backus, the famous white Florida landscape artist who taught Harold Newton and Alfred Hair and mentored many other young black artists to be. They were named the Highwaymen by Jim Fitch, a Florida art historian, because of the way they sold their paintings along A1A.
Restricted by illness and often in great pain, the paintings enlivened the last months of Channing’s life. He selected the first exhibit canvas in February, 2003; his final choice was a commission that arrived three days after his death. In less than five months more than 40 paintings, each lovingly selected, filled our walls. They were purchased from the artists at exhibits and their studios, and from art galleries and private collections.
After World War II, Channing settled in Ft. Pierce where he met Bean, forming an enduring friendship. In 1967 we met and married spending our honeymoon in Bean’s cottage on the island of Jamaica. In 1970 we asked Bean to paint two canvases. Oh, how I wish we had asked him for more.
Please view this selection of paintings from our collection, with your heart as well as your eyes. It is a tribute to Bean and all the artists known as the Highwaymen. Their creativity has given us a record of a beloved Florida that is so rapidly disappearing. We cherish this gift they have given us. - Ruth Delaplane |
The exhibit showcases photographic recreations of 32 historical images selected from the museum archives using cutting edge digital photography called high dynamic range. HDR produces images with an exceptionally broad tonal range of luminosity. This wider dynamic range allows HDR images to more accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes, ranging from direct sunlight to faint starlight.the cooperation of 14 North Pinellas Photography Forum photographers. The exhibit showcases photographic recreations of 32 historical images selected from the museum archives