OMA Exhibition to Honor Work of Florida Highwaymen
The museum will present 100 seminal works by the core group of Highwaymen artists known for their paintings of natural Florida
ORLANDO, FLA. – Opening at the Orlando Museum of Art (OMA) on the evening of Jan. 24, 2020, “Living Color: The Art of the Highwaymen” brings together 100 paintings from five private collections throughout the state of Florida featuring the works of the core group of Florida Highwaymen. These celebrated African American artists were known for an innovative style of fast painting depicting the state’s natural environment in distinctive, rich tones.
Facing limitations imposed by the racial prejudice of their time, Highwaymen artists had little or no access to formal training or to conventional art markets. To overcome these obstacles, they produced large numbers of works that could be sold at affordable prices, often door to door. “Today the paintings of the Highwaymen have become iconic representations of Florida’s exotic and seductive natural environment," OMA curator Hansen Mulford says. "It is the brilliant tropical sunsets, windblown palms and sun-drenched beaches they depict that has made Florida an alluring destination for generations of visitors and residents."
“Living Color: The Art of the Highwaymen” is guest curated by Gary Monroe, leading Highwaymen expert and author of “The Highwaymen: Florida’s African-American Landscape Painters” (2001). Chosen from more than a thousand pieces, the selected works will occupy three galleries of the museum and highlight the group’s prolific output from their initial period of success, the 1950s to the 1980s.
“We are honored to have Walker & Company, Inc. as the exhibition presenting sponsor and we look forward to sharing the paintings of the Highwaymen, along with an exciting roster of programs with the community,” says Glen Gentele, OMA director and CEO. The show will run through May 10, 2020. For museum hours and a full list of events, including those focusing on the Florida Highwaymen exhibition, visit https://omart.org/events/eventcalendar/. The Orlando Museum of Art is located in Loch Haven Park at 2416 N. Mills Avenue.
Save the date for the opening reception of “Living Color: The Art of the Highwaymen”
Public Reception
Friday, Jan. 24 | 5:30–6:30 p.m., Member Preview Reception
Friday, Jan. 24 | 6:30- 8:30 p.m., Public Reception
Free for members | $10 for Guests
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Lede Image:
Alfred Hair
Untitled [Beach Scene with Palms]
n.d.
Oil on board 24 x 36 in.
Courtesy of the Lightle Collection
© 2017 Doretha Hair Truesdell
Photography by Tariq Gibran