Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Florida’s Highwaymen Find Freedom in Art

September 8, 2011 by Marion Maneker

The local Florida news site News Chief covers an exhibition by Robert Butler, a journeyman artist who painted the Florida landscape. It turns out Butler was one of a group of 26 artists who sold their work from the back of their cars:

Butler, who was born in 1947 in Okeechobee, is one of the Florida Highwaymen, a group of 26 black landscape artists. Their work was peddled from vehicles along the state’s highways in the 1960s.  […]   “The language of art transcends race, and color,” he said in a recent interview at the Florida Southern gallery. “At least, so it was with me. Art transcends all barriers. In the 1960s, I could go around most anywhere I wanted to paint. I was friends with a good portion of the ranchers, and they gave me the freedom to come and go.”  […] Butler was particularly passionate about recording natural Florida, said James Fitch, who coined the term “highwaymen” in 1994. […] A retired art dealer turned acquisition agent, Fitch, 76, was scouring the state for art when he identified the trend of the highwaymen. “I thought, primarily, that this was a phenomenon,” the Sebring resident said. “Here we had a group of artists all working within the same genre, all African American, and came from backgrounds lacking in education advantages – they needed a way out.”

Butler’s Journey (NewsChief.com)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Elizabeth Catlett, Hughie Lee Smith Lead Swann African-American Sale in OctoberElizabeth Catlett, Hughie Lee Smith Lead Swann African-American Sale in October
  • Swann African-American Art = $4.5mSwann African-American Art = $4.5m
  • Beauford Delaney, Jacob Lawrence, Norman Lewis, Charles White and Elizabeth Catlett Lead Swann African-American Art SaleBeauford Delaney, Jacob Lawrence, Norman Lewis, Charles White and Elizabeth Catlett Lead Swann African-American Art Sale
  • Swann African American = $2.7mSwann African American = $2.7m
  • Barkley Hendricks Big Week at Sotheby’sBarkley Hendricks Big Week at Sotheby’s
  • A New Plateau for the African American Art MarketA New Plateau for the African American Art Market

Filed Under: General Tagged With: African American

About Marion Maneker

LiveArt

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor