Searching for Old Florida Art and Other Treasures in Florida

Florida is well-known as a premier destination for treasure hunters, but this paradise has a plethora of antiques, collectibles and old Florida art that was once lost to the world. What makes Florida special is its natural flora and fauna, a state that intoxicates the soul and senses through sight, smell and sound. Florida's scenic landscapes are unsurpassed, views of ocean, land and sky look like impressionist paintings come to life. This is the place where people can experience, through the eyes of a Florida artist, what has truly inspired. Florida's artists have captured a bit of magic on their canvas, for Florida's land booms show no sign of slowing down, and with each new development, most of the old Florida scenery is quickly disappearing. There are many artists in Florida today, but some of the most famous Florida folk artists where unknown until the mid 1990's, their works as obscure as sunken treasure hiding on the bottom of the ocean.

These artists are known as the Highwaymen. In the 1950's, the most famous Florida artist, the gifted impressionist A.E. "Bean" Backus, taught his technique to newly budding artists in his home-based classes. Backus was a professional full-time artist who painted from his surroundings, and he was one of the first in the mid 20th century who used his fondness for Monet to shape his own distinct style. He showed Florida's puffy white, sun streaked clouds, glorious flora and fauna and breathtaking, stormy oceans. People were amazed by his ability to duplicate Florida's wildness, beauty and natural fury. Two of the original Highwaymen artists, Alfred Hair and Harold Newton were fast learners, and had a wonderful talent for depicting old Florida landscapes, but in their own style, colorful sun streaked orange skies, stormy oceans, wildlife, old rivers, paintings that were purely commercial, yet bold in color, a surreal style with a mix of proper and offbeat technique. Their method of painting was fast, and along with their friends, learned how to paint landscapes in a continuous style that would allow them to sell multiple paintings per day. It is said that the artists in total produced around 100,000 paintings. Little did they know that their inexpensively priced decorative art would one day become important.

What is most exciting now that the Highwaymen have been inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame and people are collecting, is the thrill of being able to meet the artists, buy their current works, but also find the vintage art. The lost works are now discovered in Florida's antique districts. Antiquing towns are plentiful throughout Florida, with many antique shops situated in the historic districts on the national register. For the novice collector, looking for antiques and collectibles is always enjoyable, but for the person searching for Highwaymen art in Florida's historic old towns, there is an adventure within the search for artistic gold. Backus paintings are considered fine art, are rarer and expensive. They are for sale mostly in galleries, but the Highwaymen art is easily accessible, if you know where to look!