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Art in FloridaBlack Artists

Florida Highwaymen poinciana paintings

By Chadd ScottPosted on February 7, 2022March 24, 20232 Comments
The finest example of a Harold Newton poinciana painting from the personal collection of Roger Lightle.
The finest example of a Harold Newton poinciana painting from the personal collection of Roger Lightle.

My favorite Highwaymen paintings are wind-swept beach scenes. I’m in the minority. Most other people’s favorites are Florida Highwaymen poinciana paintings.

“The poinciana is the biggest seller, and what we say in the world of Highwaymen, when it’s just a group of us and we’re talking amongst ourselves, ‘if you don’t have a poinciana painting, you don’t want any money,’” Kelvin Hair told me when he appeared as a guest on my “Welcome to Florida” podcast. “The Highwaymen have gotten known for painting the poinciana. I don’t know of any collector, or anyone who has Highwaymen paintings… that has two or more and none of them is a poinciana. Almost everybody, their first one, they want a poinciana.”

Native to Madagascar, royal poinciana trees are known for their showy flowers. Because the poinciana tree doesn’t take well to frost, it’s primarily found in South Florida, not much further north than the Highwaymen’s historic home base of Ft. Pierce in St. Lucie County about midway between Daytona Beach and Ft. Lauderdale.

Roger Lightle holds a Highwaymen painting in a storage closet in his house.
Roger Lightle holds a Highwaymen painting in a storage closet in his house.

While Florida Highwaymen poinciana paintings were produced in great number by all members of the group, perhaps the greatest singular example comes from Harold Newton. Roger Lightle, owner of Highwaymen Art Specialists, Inc., proudly displays the 1958 painting with original green frame in his home. The crown jewel of his Highwaymen art collection greets visitors upon entering the front door.

What makes it so good?

“It’s in the right era, it’s by the right artist, it’s on canvas which is extremely rare,” Lightle said. Most Highwaymen paintings were produced on Upson board, a cheap construction material used to keep their costs down. “Why did (Newton) paint (this painting) on canvas, because it’s a special painting.”

Perhaps the best painting ever produced of the Highwaymen’s most iconic subject from the group’s most heralded practitioner at the height of his powers. All the attributes of the most valuable Highwaymen paintings. Lightle has turned down six-figure offers for it.

“I’ve seen a lot of these paintings,” Lightle, whose collection exceeds 500 Highwaymen artworks, said. “I’m very aware of the important paintings and the skill level that Harold Newton had in that era to paint that well.”

Newton began painting in 1954 and by 1958, the year Lightle’s picture was completed, Newton had mastered his technique. Four years may not seem like a long time, but remember, the Highwaymen were volume painters, sometimes completing more than 20 a day. Of those, many would have been Florida Highwaymen poinciana paintings.

“It is a poinciana, it is a scene that was painted frequently. Why? Because it sold,” Lightle says. “That was a painting they could count on painting and selling. They were working artists, they painted to survive.”

In addition to housing his best-in-class collection of Highwaymen art heavy on top practitioners among the group’s “original” members – Harold Newton, Alfred Hair, Willie Daniels and R.A. “Roy” McLendon – Lightle’s Vero Beach home also doubles as headquarters for his business, Highwaymen Art Specialists, Inc. Lightle buys and sells Highwaymen artwork from around the nation, but his greatest passion is as a collector and storyteller of the group.

Lightle welcomes visitors to see his collection upon making an appointment through the business website.

Florida Highwaymen poinciana painting above a bed in Roger Lightle's home.
Florida Highwaymen poinciana painting above a bed in Roger Lightle’s home.

Life lessons from the Florida Highwaymen

The Florida Highwaymen teach lessons about business through their sales practices. They teach lessons about innovation through their painting methods. They teach lessons about American history through the obstacles they overcame.

Perhaps more even than their magnificent paintings, however, the Florida Highwaymen should be admired for their perseverance.

“One of the legacies and lessons you can learn from (them), me being a Black man, is no matter what obstacles you face, find the way around it,” Kelvin Hair said. “They were facing a lot of obstacles: you couldn’t get in the art gallery, you can’t get a museum, you can’t sell your painting for much. They found a way around all of those. OK, I can’t sell a painting for much? I’ll paint faster and sell it cheaper. Can’t sell in an art gallery? I’ll go sell door-to-door. They just kept finding a way around the obstacles.”

And the Florida Highwaymen just kept painting poincianas.

More Florida Highwaymen

Orlando Pride 2023 Mary Ann Carroll Florida Highwaymen inspired jersey; detail of Carroll insignia.

Honoring Mary Ann Carroll First Lady of the Highwaymen

“Brilliant Nature” by James Gibson, 24” x 36” on Upson.

Florida Highwaymen Exhibit at Elliott Museum in Stuart, FL

The finest example of a Harold Newton poinciana painting from the personal collection of Roger Lightle.

Assessing the most valuable Highwaymen paintings

Harold Newton (1934-1994), Beach Scene, undated. Oil on canvas. Vickers Collection Harn Museum

Florida Highwaymen art show 2023 opening at in Fort Pierce

Alfred HairFlorida HighwaymenHarold NewtonKelvin HairRoy McLendon

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2 Comments
  • Anita Mclaughlin
    August 30, 2022

    Very interesting I had some for sale a couple of weeks ago prices to though I didn’t take it… Should you buy from that living last highwaymen alive now ????

    Reply
    • Chadd Scott
      August 30, 2022

      If you love the work and can afford it, sure. Only buy art you truly enjoy, not because you think it may appreciate in value.

      Reply

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Helen Frankenthaler’s ‘Eden Revisited’ (1967 Helen Frankenthaler’s ‘Eden Revisited’ (1967-1976) sure to brighten your day, it did mine on a recent visit to @sama_art @visitsanantonio. Stunning, vivid, massive (10-plus-feet tall), expressive… up close you can see the paint stains. 
I see so much drama in this painting, so much certainty, confidence. Of all the past artists I could have met, @helenfrankenthalerfoundation would be high on the list.
#helenfrankenthaler #colorfieldpainting #greatwomenartists #femaleartist #womenshistorymonth #yellow #orange #painting #modernart #visitsanantonio
3 showstoppers from @_wiggins_ at @briscoemuseum @ 3 showstoppers from @_wiggins_ at @briscoemuseum @visitsanantonio. Kim’s mark making and color are instantly recognizable and I DIG it! 
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Harold Newton (left) and Alfred Hair side-by-side Harold Newton (left) and Alfred Hair side-by-side at @tampamuseumofart. To learn more about the original Florida Highwaymen artist, click the link in my bio.
#floridahighwaymen #haroldnewton #alfredhair #florida #floridalife #floridaartist #floridaart #floridaartists #blackartist #floridahistory
OVERWHELMED by this exhibition of #purvisyoung art OVERWHELMED by this exhibition of #purvisyoung artwork on view at @tampamuseumofart! 
What most caught my eye were all the 18-wheelers. Are these a reference to “urban renewal” and the siting of I-95 through the heart of Young’s #overtown #miami neighborhood. 
As occurred across America during 1950s-80s, so-called urban renewal was a tactic used by white politicians to destroy thriving Black communities by running interstates through them to aide white suburbanites in getting to jobs in town faster.
Young experienced Overtown on both sides of #urbanrenewal and I can’t help thinking all these trucks are commentary on I-95.
#miamilife #tampa #tampaflorida #artmuseum #blackart #blackartist #blackartmatters #selftaughtartist
I was writing about @ronjonofficial for my “My F I was writing about @ronjonofficial for my “My Favorite Florida” column on Rovology.com travel site this morning. My first visit was 86ish, my most recent visit came last month. 
#ronjonsurfshop #ronjon #cocoabeach #cocoabeachflorida #surfing #surflife #80s #80sfashion
“Florida Highwaymen: Dashboard Dreams” closes “Florida Highwaymen: Dashboard Dreams” closes at @aebackusmuseum 2/26. Best chance all year to see original Florida Highwaymen paintings. 
More info about Highwaymen check link in bio.
“Cocktails & Dreams” neon at @treylorparkhitch “Cocktails & Dreams” neon at @treylorparkhitch in #savannah. Who gets it?
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Check out this #keithharing ceiling above the @nyh Check out this #keithharing ceiling above the @nyhistory admission desk! It comes from his #soho Pop Shop retail location which he opened in 1986 and was operated by @keithharingfoundation until 2005. 
Second pic his remix of a #subway sign. New-York Historical Society has an AMAZING modern + contemporary art collection. Highlight of my recent visit.
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