ART
31
Premier Florida landscape artist A.E. “Bean” Backus is
credited with giving many of the Highwaymen their start
as artists. His Fort Pierce studio was where many, as young
men, hung out. One in particular, young Alfred Hair, realized
that if he could paint quickly, he could make money, even
though he could not sell in the galleries of the time.
Some of the Florida landscape artists who were his friends
adopted his speedy painting method on inexpensive Upson
board, a construction material they framed with crown molding.
Nine years after Fitch’s “Highwaymen” name tied the
artists into a loosely knit group, 26 of the artists were permanently
bound together when they were inducted into the >>
PHOTO PROVIDED BY KELVIN HAIR
Highwayman Alfred Hair trained under famed Florida
landscape artist A.E. “Bean” Backus and developed a
speedy way of painting landscapes to make a living.
KELVIN HAIR
A painting by Alfred Hair shows the influence of his teacher, A.E. “Bean” Backus, but is uniquely
his own.