Tropical Light: The Art of A.E. Backus

About this event

America’s last remaining continental Eden was Florida, a pristine, verdant, tropical paradise. Surpassing all potential rivals, artist A.E. Backus (1906-­‐1990) developed a masterful aesthetic for portraying this unspoiled territory. His paintings have become the definitive images of tropical America, synonymous with the state: backcountry terrain is often described as “Backus landscape,” emotive clouds as “Backus sky,” and translucent waves as “Backus water.” As more and more of his depicted wilderness succumb to development, typifying global trends, Backus’s paintings have emerged as poetic testaments of a lost paradise and of the urgency for environmental preservation. During his lifetime, Backus was proclaimed “Florida’s painter laureate,“ the “Dean of Florida’s landscape painters” and even the “Corot of Florida.” On a national level, Backus is still a fresh, relatively unexplored American talent whose artistic ability, avant‐garde technique, and distinctive subject matter shout for more widespread exposure. Sustained by an extraordinary humanitarian spirit, Backus also executed numerous paintings depicting African Americans and Native Americans. Despite living in the Jim Crow South, Backus formed enduring friendships with Black musicians, artists and authors, including Zora Neale Hurston. His most conspicuous mentoring legacy was the circle of African American artists known as the Highwaymen. He was a catalyst for the Highwaymen’s emergence, giving art lessons to Alfred Hair, as well as guidance and paint supplies to others in the group. The exhibition of 60 paintings, which span the evolution of the artist’s palette‐knife style, will be curated by Backus expert Natasha Kuzmanovic, and supplemented by her already published award‐winning Backus monograph. It includes paintings from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s depicting both Floridian and Caribbean scenes as well as his lesser‐known portraits and Highwaymen originals