Rough Sea, Palms on Sand Dune

Object Details

Created by

Harold Newton, American, 1934 - 1994

Caption

Harold Newton was a member of the Florida Highwaymen, a group of self-taught artists who worked in Florida starting in the 1950s. The Highwaymen leveraged their entrepreneurial spirit to create an independent artistic tradition during the era of segregation. The group was made up of twenty-five men and one woman. Their art provided an alternative livelihood to the regional agricultural and factory work. Though he had no formal training, Newton was informally mentored by the successful artist A.E. “Bean” Backus from Fort Pierce, Fl. Harold’s brothers, Sam and Lemuel, were also painters.

The group created a great quantity of work, often dozens of paintings per day, which would be sold inexpensively. The paintings depict Florida landscapes and are renowned for their vibrant colors and serene scenes. Like other Highwaymen, Newton sold his paintings door to door and out of his car along roadways. This practice led Jim Finch, a Sebring Florida gallery owner, to name the group the “Highwaymen” in a 1995 essay, prompting a renewed public interest. In 2004, they were inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.

Fort Pierce and the Florida Humanities Council. “The Highwaymen Trail.” 2012. https://thehighwaymentrail.com/bibliography/.

Description

Oil painting of a sandy beach in windy weather. The foreground of the painting (a) has blue-grey sand and central dunes. Green grasses cover the top of the dunes. There are two (2) palm trees in the center blowing in the wind. The blue and white sea has crashing waves. There are three (3) white seagulls shown flying above the water. Grey storm clouds cover the top of the paintings and obscure the sun. There is sunlight coming from behind the clouds and reflecting on the water. The work is signed in the bottom right.

The wooden frame (b) is made from repurposed construction materials and is fragile. The frame is lightly painted with white and gold-colored paints. The board is only attached on two sides to the frame with small nails. A metal wire anchored with a screw eye on each side is strung across the upper back. Each corner has a string nailed to the frame across the board.

Credit Line

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Robert and Flory Kahn in memory of Wolf and Tybe Kahn

ca.1984

Object number

2014.185.16ab

Restrictions & Rights

© Harold Newton

Type

oil paintings

Medium

oil paint on fiberboard

Dimensions

H x W x D (framed): 25 5/8 × 37 3/4 × 1 3/4 in. (65.1 × 95.9 × 4.4 cm)

Place made

Fort Pierce, Saint Lucie County, Florida, United States, North and Central America

See more items in

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification

Visual Arts

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Topic

African American

American South

Art

Nature

Record ID

nmaahc_2014.185.16ab

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd526600d90-2b8d-429a-a67f-6b2f42f6e250