Mr.Andrew Caxton asked:


Painting landscape has been a popular art form in many cultures for centuries. While most of us cannot afford original masterpieces, modern reproductions and print allow us to bring them into our homes.

Painters of Landscape

While few of us can afford paintings by the greatest landscape artists like Monet and Constable, reproductions give us an affordable access to their works to enhance our decorating schemes.

Amateur painters often chose landscape as a subject matter as they may not have access to decent studio space and therefore can more easily paint in situ. This was not always the case and the first Impressionist to take their easels outside were viewed as rather unconventional, as artists before them would have painted inside from memory or sketches.

Painting landscape is an art tradition common to many cultures, and it goes hand-in-hand with the popularity of the genre. This was especially the case in Japan, North America, the Netherlands, France and Great Britain until the latter part of the twentieth century as other forms of artistic representation, such as Surrealism and Cubism, for example, grabbed the artists and critics’ attention. Nowadays with the advent of video and installations landscape artists are becoming a rare, rather obsolete breed.

With all this being said, let’s note, however, that most people still rather like landscape paintings. They usually convey a sense of emotional connection to the subject matter, which does not necessarily occur when one looks at a portrait or still life. This is particularly the case when the painting in question reminds of times past.

A number of very famous landscape artists became well known for concentrating on specific areas. In some cases it could almost be tantamount to obsession if you consider that Paul Cézanne, for instance, painted around eighty versions of the Sainte-Victoire mountain located near his home in Provence, France. He wanted to represent it as it looked to him throughout the year, with different weather.

In the seventeen century Holland saw the first European painters representing seascapes, Vermeer and Rembrandt. Since this time there has been a noted recurrence of sky and water themes for some landscape painters, like for instance the well-known English artist JMW Turner. Turner was fist noted for his representations of the sea and skies in violent storm conditions. This said his later works point to the future development of abstract painting by blurring the previously clear line between the water and the sky. French artist Claude Monet’s developed his technique for painting landscapes involving water by doing so in close proximity to his subject matter, which would sometimes involve painting from a small boat. American painters Homer and Wyeth, both renowned landscape painters, were also noted for the admirable way they managed to represent the effect of light on water surfaces.



Heather

Mark Ralph asked:


The emerging art market for highwaymen paintings have arrived over the past decade. Art that once sold for $25.00 or bought at a garage sale for a few dollars now fetches upwards of Several Thousand dollars. Highwaymen art collecting is both a rewarding and exciting field. This type of art is new enough so that collectors can still find bargains, yet old enough where the artists reputations have become established.

The highwaymen artists were a group of black Florida landscape artists from the Ft. Pierce area who sold their paintings during the 1950’s though 1980’s. Their paintings were designed for tourists, people on vacation as well as businesses and new homeowners. They painted colorful tropical scenes which depicted pristine Florida beaches and countryside.

The beginnings of the movement began when well known Florida artist A.E. Backus, now considered the dean of Florida landscape painters, had a meeting in 1954 with Harold Newton. Backus inspired Harold to paint Florida landscape scenes instead of the religious scenes Harold was currently painting. Harold Newton had a natural talent and was easily able to change his art to capture the tropical scenery. Harold taught his younger brother Sam Newton how to paint in his style and they created some of the best quality highwaymen art. Because Harold couldn’t find any gallery representation, he decided to sell his paintings door to door by driving up and down the Florida coast. Harold would sell the paintings out of the trunk of his car and by simply walking into businesses, stores and banks.

During 1955, one year after Harold Newton met A.E.’Bean’ Backus, Alfred Hair started receiving formal art lessons from Backus. Alfred learned some basic oil painting techniques from Backus. Alfred continued his lessons with Backus for about 2 years. By this time Harold had already found success with his marketing method of selling paintings door to door, traveling up and down Florida’s limited main highways. Although Alfred Hair didn’t aspire to paint in the exceptional quality as A.E. Backus or Harold Newton did, he saw an avenue for making money. Alfred took what he learned from Bean Backus, combined with the way Harold was selling his art and created mass produced Florida oil paintings. Alfred wasn’t looking to make great art, he was looking to make fast money from the thriving tourist market. Alfred had a vision and he enlisted the help of several friends to make paintings, build picture frames out of crown molding and market the product. Some of his framers even became painters.

Jim Fitch coined the name “Highwaymen” during a 1995 article he wrote about this group of 26 painters. The name fits perfectly but the number of painters is not set in stone. Some people claim they were part of the group, others say there was actually less then 26 painters and at least one wants no affiliation. Today several other Florida artists paint in the Highwaymen Style and even their art is finding a new Collectors Market. One thing is very clear, if it wasn’t for A.E. Backus, there wouldn’t be any Highwaymen or Highwaymen style art. Now that you know how the Highwaymen Art Movement began, the best way to collect it is to buy the best painting you can afford from the artist who has a good reputation for quality work. Study their work and see what aspects about it you like. For instance, Do you like brush strokes or palette knife work?… or What’s the condition of the board? Select the artist(s) whose work developed in a solid, consistent way. Don’t just buy a highwaymen painting because of the highwaymen name, buy it based on the strength of the painting. A quality painting is an investment which will always retain it’s value and appreciate in the future.



Georgia