The Highwaymen

welcome to the programs and a lot of you are not members your guests and we are very pleased to have you I'm Mary Jones I'm the executive director of the steward Heritage Museum tonight our guests is Roger and Delilah correct okay and he is representing the high women and I can't tell you how pleased we are to have this Gloria also contacted him and asked him so and we're going to draw and then without further Ado I'm going to turn it over to him here thank you for allowing us and your facility tonight until the high women story we'd like to thank Gloria for inviting me we currently as we speak have three Museum shows

going on this month one in Key West the city of West Palm Beach has us the entire month of February every year so we're down there the again the entire month and then we have a major Exhibition at the Backus museum in Fort Pierce choose to go there it would be beneficial we are the curators for that event we bring paintings that are are like no wonder they're most likely one of a kind and then you also get to see the uh back backest paintings that are also in the museum there there's a major book out right now uh that my friend wrote she's a PhD from New York Natasha who's novik she wrote the

book about Bacchus a tropical Mite and she won from the state of Florida last year the Gold Award so that book is available at the Bacchus Museum so it's an important book to uh to acquire if you choose it's got a major selection of paintings that they that they uh present in the book the story The Highwayman story is the American success story starting from nothing learning how to paint the very earliest High women artists Harold Newton painted initially of religious scenes on velvet he moved to Vero Beach he was born in Vero moved to Georgia came back painting these religious scenes they're not going very well meets AE Bacchus beanie Bacchus from Fort Pierce

Mr Bacchus doesn't formally teach him he only formally taught Alpha hair but he allowed him into the studio to see what he did that was the start of that path of success for harolding this image right up here is is a Poinciana by hair will be painted in the 50s it's on canvas it's unusual but anyway that's a little bit about the track record The Highwaymen weren't allowed into studios in that era of time so they had to create their own path they had to knock on the doors that's how that's this story started there's 26 of them loosely associated from Bureau Fort Pierce so that's what they're from a core group of nine but

uh that's that's the group that's kind of how things started evolving the first one 1954 Harold Newton his neighbor Roy McClendon 1955 started painting Roy McClendon's still alive he was in West Palm Beach last weekend got a call from London doing an interview they already interviewed me boy McClendon here here's the phone you need to talk to them this publication this writer again from London it's a major publication across the United States with a million followers so those things are expanding and those uh also who was in attendance in West Palm Beach was NBC NBC is doing a live broadcast on the 28th of this month we're doing a show in Miramar 6 p.m that

evening it'll be broadcast whether it's Nationwide or just local I'm on the phone with the reporter from NBC asked me well Roy McClendon do a live interview I said absolutely he will uh I'm not quite sure if he would you know I just answered uh without him being there but it's called royal paint Roy do you mind doing this now do it but I said that to the reporter yes they'll do it he said wait let me ask the his management to see if it's okay I said no wait no no that's not an option you have to you have a National Treasure here he's 85. will that opportunity to come up again you have

to interview him so that's how the conversation went what we have here is a photograph this is not staged this is a photograph of one of the high women painting one of the classic scenes what's called The River Road it's a River Indian River Drive from Jensen Beach to Fort Pierce that image is is on that easel this is again not staged this is in his backyard this is how the paintings were created the honest at that easel and get this painting this is the painting itself is 30 by 48 very large it's actually on view at the Bacchus Museum to date and that exhibit ends only March 4th this Friday Saturday and Sunday we

have a three-day event at the Bacchus Museum Friday night between six and eight some of the artists will be there uh speaking but if you choose to attend them you get to see this major exhibit that we bring every every year different paintings every year but a major exhibit this is another painting by the same artist classic colors you know painting these paintings in their backyard taking them on the street not working for anybody self-employed it's a lot better than picking fruit that was their most likely uh work opportunity in that era of time something in the agricultural industry in Fort Pierce it wasn't easy I think sometimes on how difficult that must have been

to knock on doors but they did it you know there was that drive to succeed was in them so uh this is this is what they did and this is what they created and knocked on the doors and showed people to purchase Alfred Hare the only artist in the group that was taught formally by Bacchus that just took him in under his wing kind of showed him what's going on told him to slow down Alfred Hare didn't want to slow down he wanted to be a millionaire by the time he was 35 he can't paint slowly like Bacchus and Achieve that his method of operation was if I could paint 10 of these tobaccus is

one and say sell them for the same amount of money I'm making as much as Bacchus so that that kind of method that kind of style of art was created the book author Gary Monroe so there's two artists in the high women group that had a their own style James Gibson Alfred Hare Alfred Hare at the peak of his career 29 years old gunned down in a bar gun down the bar on Avenue D a bar called Eddie's place so you know you have the success story but then then taken away quickly for for really no reason I want to live in this house it will help each other forever I would be perfectly happy

there believe me that's uh scenes like this is what floor was a power this kind of property this property on the water in Florida what typically happens to come in and tear the building down people have no big home or something substantial on that property but is a classic scene by Alfred Hare a Poinciana tree with a little shot on the water so something that collectors would like to like to own I believe this is on display of the Baptist Museum Roy McClendon 85 it'll be 86 in March next month he's the one who's going to be interviewed by NBC on the 28th of uh I again don't know if it's on the national broadcast

or if it's just local but was interviewed Again by someone from London I asked him do you still like the paintings that's absolutely still loves to paint 85 and he can so if he does West Palm Beach we had him we had a 62 year old son that paints and that is 58 year old daughter they're all up in front of the audience asking these questions it was uh interesting his daughter on the phone with London says oh yeah I recall a story my father all week long painted the paintings took him on the road had a very successful week he comes home with a pink Thunderbird Roy McClendon came home the interviewer said was

that for your wife he said oh no it was for himself his wife made him take it back and she wouldn't let him keep it but this is this is you you see me uh the earlier image of someone in their backyard Lauren Clinton is not in his backyard he has his own Studio Roy McLennan with my wife Bowie important painting this is what's called a washer woman scene if you look on the bottom of the left there's a woman hanging clothes from a historical perspective someone hanging clothes the artist looking out his front door and recording that in oil those are important images that were recorded by them there's Roy well-used area that he's

painting around look at the uh the paint and uh you know a lot of times spent in that chair but that painting that he's painting is in someone's home right now someone's enjoying that image somewhere but an American success store sitting in that chair I don't know if a lot of you know any of The Highwaymen this is Roy black he's the salesman for Alfred hair he's a very good salesman bullied me he could marry and Carol the only woman in the group said that Al black sell them a jacket to a mosquito that's what she said boy or mal black very good salesman Alfred Hare ended up having four sales staff that's held him

quickly those pains were being sold so he was painting these paintings the money was coming in they were living a very good life I had a lawyer come to my house from Palm Beach said Alfred Harry used to come to my office and mine the paintings of my Bona field I wish out a lot more he said Alfred here was making more money than I was and I was a lawyer in Palm Beach and I don't doubt that I'm black we had a museum exhibit at the Vero Beach Museum of Art and technically you don't sell paintings outside the museum and uh you know this is this is how things work this is how things

are done things were always done this way he's got a medal from the state of Florida for their achievement in 2004 they were nominated in the Florida artist Hall of Fame Jimmy Buffett's in the Florida artist Hall of Fame Gloria Estefan is in the Florida artist Hall of Fame The Highwaymen are this photo doesn't tell the whole story behind him there was a line of probably 25 people waiting to buy every one of those opinions and he sold everything that that you're looking at Mary and Carol and Michelle Obama uh Mary and Carol presented Michelle Obama at the women's lunch and it's the most prominent uh women's Affair in Washington yearly affair she was invited

and Michelle Obama with a painting this is the U.S Embassy in Ottawa we have Mary Ann Carroll again in Ottawa so the story doesn't really have borders we're going across now the lines and you know in Ottawa so interesting I I've blocked paintings from someone from Canada so you know they they were everywhere I know someone who has a high women painting in Hawaii they were purchased in this area but they didn't stay here they migrated North a lot of people down here on vacation at bottom bought so the paintings are are literally everywhere James Gibson I don't know if any of you knew James he just recently passed away he was our someone that

would come to Grassy Waters preserved in West Palm Beach every year it was always I always called him the Ambassador is always very well dressed very well spoken very much you're the man of paintings that he was creating so but there he is but he was he was just a great guy you have this core uh important figure in this story in a very well used kitchen as you can see the bottom right is the stone it looks like it might have got some paints a friend of mine his mother they used to party over at bacchus's house telling me the story about this gets a new refrigerator for having a party that night at

the end of the night the refrigerator was no longer white that you painted the entire refrigerator everybody at the party but Bacchus love to cook and um you can tell by that kitchen looks like it's well used this is the book my friend produced but again a a major publication and worth of getting if I can choose this is one of the paintings that's in the book and it's also on display at the Baptist Museum if you choose to go to the Baptist Museum it's a Herald Newton 30 by 48 inches very colorful you can tell by the photograph here it's impressive but it really isn't anything like when the image is in front of

you and it's so impressive this is the painting that I referred to earlier I bought for eleven thousand dollars from my friend's grandmother who bought it at the yard sale for ten dollars but it's uh it's it's a very large painting again it's three foot by five foot that's what it's called the Ria Mar scene I don't know if any of many of you know Ria Moore Beach and Vero it's a kind of a point and they painted that uh frequently they would paint things frequently that sold they'd have to they needed to eat and Harold Newton especially he had 12 children so we better be painting selling those paintings very skilled by never looking

back and just thinking about how this unfolded I don't think opinions had to be sold I think they were just shown that they were that good this painting is a uh has a story behind it I bought it from my friend's store in Vero Beach over the phone he said I have a very nice Harold nude painting out it's thousand dollars I said I'll take it I didn't even see it when I bought it he said it was good so I just bought it it's like noon I picked up painting up at four o'clock someone behind me sees me pay for it because I like that painting I'll buy it from you for ten thousand

times load about 10 maybe 10 years ago 12 years ago they had an article in the Boston Globe some of the images by The Highwaymen were represented and that's one of them it's a Harold Newton painted a lot of paintings in the 50s early 60s that were on campus for they're very important they're very they were different they weren't the typical one-of-the-milling very very quite a bit so but they were really good because he knew how to paint at that point Alfred hair painting Alfred Hare Harold Newton knew each other very well Harold Newton said to Alfred Hare all the Palms that you paint look like they're going to fall over there's an example of

one that looks like he's going to fall over Alfred Hare of painting of a palm on the Indian River some of the paintings are very historically significant you have a child playing with a tire kids today don't and they don't have an entire their client they have an iPhone iPad an electric electronic device I was showing this image to another group of people and someone yelled from the back you can tell it's all look at the tires it's a big white wall absolutely that was from the 50s a young store in McLennan has some Roy McLendon the woman with her hands on her hips he said it was his son he looked out his window

and his son was playing with a tire so he just captured that in oil so these are significant historically it has a building generally the high women were known for Landscapes when they had these elements of a building of people they uh they are different they're the rarer images that you come across this has the Poinciana tree the building the one with their hands on their hips and is he said it was just some so I captured Roy he captured Roy McClendon his son with the tire but we ended up with a painting Harold Newton they said Harold Newton could paint with a spoon a feather he was that skilled he could paint a painting

18 inches by 24 inches in one hour that's what he still he was the paintings they painted in that in that time frame were very very good we did a i curated a show for the Vero Beach Museum of Art this was the image they used on their handout material it's all palette knife there's no brush stroke so a very important painting very well done that's on display at the bogus Museum here's a image of something that was fairly common these little boat houses these little buildings on the Indian River those are generally in such disrepair they don't fix them anymore they fall under the water they're not repaired and just not something that's done

anymore so you have the individual in the foreground with two boats there's a drawing the dock has some Nets over it so you know hanging painted in 1957 by Harold Newton unusual scene uh just a just something unusual is by living sir Roberts another Poinciana with the building on the river he was one of the core members the first five in the group this painting has cows in it Harold Newton Painting with cows they're sought after by collectors his painting was found in a yard sale in Port St Lucie we probably paid two dollars for it slightly they're not two dollars anymore I can make sure you've uh I've seen them sell for eight to

twelve thousand with a cow in it not uncommon Alfred classic scene this has uh this is double signed for some reason now for hair I have a couple of them that have signature on both Corners he painted it uh just an early painting probably not long after leaving the connection with Bacchus in 1965 and he moved into a house on Dunbar Street 2804 Dunbar in Fort Pierce right off Avenue D and he had the production line going then those paintings were being produced quickly that's when he had the four sales staff that were going on the road they took the paintings they made the frames when the frames were attached to the paint it created

a space their oil paintings they don't dry they need to have that space they stack them in the vehicles gave them to Al black we'll see you later Al black see you later today Al black would come home with it with all of the painting sold one woman in the group Mary and Carol she was very popular on Friday she had a car to take the paintings on the road themselves who often didn't have cars so very unusual pain you don't think of high women paintings that look like this this is Harold Newton looks like a Jamaican scene he's got the mountains in the background there's no vegetation in it it's got the child with

the diaper on overflowing garbage can on the bottom right woman has an apron on people walking down the road seven buildings look at how thick the paint is all pallet knife no brush or these are sought after by color another realm are scene but it's uh I think it was found and I bought it in Fort Lauderdale I think it was from a yard sale or something someone found it it's on canvas that's how these paintings were treated I found one I asked people if they have them I live across the street not far from a 7-Eleven off of A1A and Vero Beach someone in front of me I asked them do you have any

of these paintings he says yes I do I have one in my lawn trailer outside sure come on out in his lawn trailer had all the molars in there and his weed eaters on the racks on the side on the side of the uh inside the lawn trailer was a Sam Newton two foot by three foot beautiful painting at one time and the weed your head was leaning against it so every time it went down the road it had a hole about eight inches almost all the way through it but it was a beautiful painting I would have been doing that to a friend maybe before they put it the weed eater head up against

it but that's how things were that's how they were treated this is probably the most important Pain by the high women's the name of the paint is called Eddie's place this is where Alfred Hare was gunned down Harold Newton painted this uh in the 50s Alfred here was gunned down in 1970 in thus far so he just happened to paint Eddie's place and then oh what happened there but a very unusual painting all these people again in front of Eddie's place and it was captured by the premier artist in the group Harold Newton Vero Beach Museum of Art Exhibit we had they had the largest attendance and director told me where they had the largest

attendance they ever had with this show that we put on and it was in the summer they did have one other event in the history of the Vero Beach museum of art that had a larger attendance this attendance again was the largest and it was in the summer they wouldn't allow us to have it in the uh in the premiere of season event they I guess didn't feel it would meet the standards but we are allowed to have it it's very successful sabakis Museum completely modified they have a big wing on it that they spent a lot of money on so it's again worth visiting painted The Point Sienna very frequently because it was a

scene that people liked they bought the Poinciana again they needed to eat so they're painting that painting it's never the same point scene there might be other trees different location different time of day you have a top right Harold Newton bottom right Harold Newton bottom left Alfred hair the top left is a Roy McLendon the kids in that scene in the top left they're playing with marbles again a historical uh painting then captured that you know kids don't play with marbles but I'm aware of I don't know they may I just I never have but that's in the 50s or early 60s playing with the marbles this photograph is Mia Miami International Airport they have

a gallery within the airport such a big airport they had a high women exhibit in the Miami International Airport has a photograph of this is the Vera Beach Museum of Art we have artists Willie Daniels with the hat on so people mingling and a lot of attendance I had a big buyer there I'm at the Museum we put the show on he flies in from New York comes in my wife likes these paintings I want to buy them I said I can't even get someone to you I know you would like him and you can certainly afford them I understand that but we have to go to your house right now and buy paintings I

said are you kidding me or have all these people around them in the museum just opened you know we had a big lecture no we have to go right now I said okay we'll go we'll go to my house whatever we have to do we will get you a painting drive to his house he has his Bentley outside and I'm not kidding about that he has a batteries extremely wealthy he had to pick a couple paintings off my walls in my house is okay you ended up buying I can't tell you how mentally 200 High women 100 Baptist paintings at least he's had in the last four or five years he bought this image isn't

very clear but it's the group it's the high women group with their medals this is the state of Florida award that they receive so you know an important photograph you have Zenobia Jefferson in the center she was Alfred Ayers teacher sonovia Jefferson and introduced Alfred Hill into A.D back to Sonata a chain of events of unraveled to the right of of her in the white that was a Carnell Smith he recently passed away he was so big Cornell Smith this guy was no joke he was huge his neck was as big as his head anytime I would see him I said hey Carmel if anything happens here if anything goes down you and I are

together right now and he would laugh don't tell him the same thing every time I seen him but he was he was a a preacher so he uh you know he elevated himself that's it that's it for the show if you have any questions whatsoever we are knowledgeable about The Highwaymen we've been doing this a long time we uh we know a little bit about it a little bit about the painting we brought in over there that's a typical painting what you're looking at to my right we're breaking away that's a 24 by 30 inch size he sold for 25 they made the frame they bought the board the upset board came in the sheets

four for money and put the cut to the size they need they prime it and then paint it so they had to buy the paint buy the wood to make the frame make the frame paint the frame and then you know create the painting itself and then take it on the weather if you sell it or generally 25 dollars house payment for pain for paintings the only thing they used house paint for was the frames themselves so while that's a little bit about the painting that is on Upson Board of a material comically used up in the up until 1984 they stopped making it so does anybody have any questions yes are all the paintings

signed no some of them weren't and it's uh it's just they weren't it wasn't that important not generally they signed them though generally they did one of the artists would sign Al black would sign Willie Daniels paintings all the time they're not really they're not all blacks you would sign him as a way to sell them he would take them on the road of course this is my opinion years my signature that's what he did and so we'd have that we will we re-sign it so we have both signatures the legitimate artists and then the sales for the original five original five parallel out for hair James Gibson Livingston Roberts and rolling by Clinton thank

you for the help out there yes I have a few questions for you yes um one I've been told that for every person that's in the painting it might have a thousand dollars see that is very accurately that then this is probably a low number let me tell you that okay the second puzzle is that a number could be depends on who the artist was what was your second question what's the second question I see a lot of role playing today poisonous trees yes are there a lot of jacarandians foreign they just only didn't sell as easily we have one right now it's a newer one it's like Sam Newton anything by Harold Newton unusual

key artist that's uh that's a Target artist yes can you get copies of currency I mean I have Abacus um it's beautiful it's huge my house and the Baptist museum has lights two for Bacchus you know copyrights and uh you know I probably wouldn't suggest that the high women you know really it's they also have rights they're rights that I probably wouldn't intrude on we don't um so anyway I probably wouldn't do you want to sell your boxes actually I'm not kidding anybody else have a question anything if it was now black painting or if it was wall doctor I've just seen so many it's like anybody doing anything you can get a confession are

they all boils and all oil things instead of one of the artists um depending an acrylic yes um Friday night at the Backus Museum yes so it's a whole weekend event yes anyway The Highwayman artists I know they've been invited who will attend I can't speak for them but between six and eight Friday evening will be a fun event so we're always there Friday night because someone had a question yes sir we have debating if it's a sign of blood did it does nobody's name is blood did it that's something maybe it was maybe I've heard that it was but it might have been maybe Daniels loved it I've heard about anyone maybe I've seen

him for a while do you have any answer about how many paintings are out there the question was how many paintings were created and really no one trapped that it didn't matter but I would definitely say 200 000 plus a month but I wonder how many survived I've seen these paintings just traded I I bought one that was found in the garbage in Fort Pierce and this is not uncommon found in the garbage is a Harold new beautiful painting I paid six thousand dollars for it and I thought it was nice I paid six thousands in the Harold Newton box So these paintings were treated as you know not really uh yes question anybody yes

the show report Pierce a couple of weeks ago at the Jets and the fox says it was very good and I was talking to a gentleman and I was telling him that I had found it out for hair in a junk store in Sevierville Tennessee oh yeah and I told him he also had a Harold Newman and he said well you know Alfred hair is not very important he said he used to run them on assembly line he paid a little bit and then hand them off to somebody else and let them think is that true 65 the ones before that all for hairs are very important any one of them I don't care how

quickly they were paid they are important it's an important part of the story he was the only one who said tied Abacus his isn't quite listen to everything again the book of author Gary Monroe said the fact that he painted them quickly doesn't mean that they're not important you know it's true because said that he might depending a palm tree and somebody had come along and one of the other artists who would say well I need one with three palm trees in it let me take it and I'll finish it for you when I found that hard to believe what he did at Dunbar Street he did have the estepally line to some degree he

had his paintings nailed up they would paint the background he would come in and paint those highlights provided later you can paint the wave in the palm and maybe some of the sky that's for that background he did have people or like 65 and later do that but prior to that some of those paintings that we had shown here that was not the case for Alfred Hare clearly painted that entire pain I don't know when this one was painted all I know is that I found it in I think 28. there was a woman found a painting in Pompano Beach at a yard sale she picked it up set down the woman behind her picked

it up bought it two bucks a dealer bought it for 13 000 sold it to my friend for twenty four thousand in a yard sale does that happen very apparently very rarely but the the image itself was important so that's what's wrong or that some of them are though some of them have that value anybody else any question at all yes tomorrow I know definitely uh right around 40 I know my friend's been often a lot more I just bought them for 27 500. it's on the shit display a very rare panel yes sir um either in black and white right early early James Gibson and that's what he did he painted those uh two-tone

colors Gary Monroe felt they were very important though they were kind of a painting style that he created on his own and really I think you know in New York City if you had those on a apartment you know in your apartment in New York they would probably fit in perfect they were kind of different and people have asked in front of me uh James Gibson white paint that was just I want you to paint quickly you know it's just what he did at the time someone else have a question yes sir I couldn't understand you said that painting was in the garbage and your face I'm not the one that found it someone else

did but it wasn't the garbage I wish I had but that's not one there's many that have been found in the garbage I've been in Gifford I don't know if you know where Gifford lady calls me I think I have some of those out in my shed a look at a look out there I'm digging through this shed in the Summers found three Alpha hair paintings that she had in the shed so not looked at as important anybody else I appreciate you coming tonight hearing the story it's an important story to be shared with the public and thanks