Lakeland Florida – Polk Museum of Art

Just a couple of weeks before we left Florida, we drove over to Lakeland to visit with friends and while there we drove around the town a bit and stopped in the county art museum. We just stumbled upon an exhibition of the Highwaymen. I enjoy painting landscape scenes as a hobby and the Highwaymen paintings are among my favorites!

Lakeland Florida

Lakeland is a small city of just over 100,000 people mainly settled by European-Americans from the Midwest and Midsouth in the 1870’s. It is located in Polk county southwest of Orlando and has one of the finest sheriffs in the US. A very law and order county!

I had heard of some Frank Lloyd Wright design influence on the local buildings and while driving around we may have seen a few. Cool town, but a quick visit.

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The Highwaymen

The history of these paintings is quite fascinating. I’ll summarize here and include some more detail below in the photos. The painting style is old Florida landscapes using a fast painting style and many vibrant colors. They focus on Florida’s natural beauty, its beaches, marshes, palm trees, and native flora and fauna.

The influence comes from Fort Pierce artist A.E. Backus after WW-II. His success caused other artists to follow in his footsteps. His protégées were young black artists who were trained to produce these works and then sell them out of their cars alongside the highways in Florida. Hence the name.

I also enjoy creating a few paintings in this style. They can be over the top colorful. Part of the attraction. Although many art critics look down on this style as not classic art. Guess I will have to disagree…. So below are fewer words and more photos of the exhibit. Enjoy!

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Thanks for following along! A couple more updates to the blog to document our travel back to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Happy Easter!

God Bless and take care.