While the reason I have a blog, or even a website
( http://www.highwaymen-buy-sell-trade.com/ )
is to generate purchases or sales of vintage highwaymen art, I try to continue educating the public with links to informative highwaymen stuff.
This morning, before I head up to Inverness to set up the show this weekend, I found a story about the opening reception of the exhibition I attended last Thursday at Nova University in Davie. There was a little song, a little dance, but not a lttle seltzer down your pants. Remember the eulogy at the funeral for the clown on the Mary Tyler Moore show, anyone ?
The reception was well attended, standing room only, by over a hundred new faces.
I loved that part. New faces.
I didn't mind a couple of glasses of red wine, either. Made me feel sophisticated.
So here's a brief write-up in the Sun Sentinal which also has a link to the President of Nova getting some face time.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/davie/fl-cn-highwaymen-0214-20100211,0,7637732.story
If you go see the exhibition, the first painting on the left is an early canvasboard Harold Newton that I bought and sold last year. So many Harolds I sold that I wish I could have afforded to keep, this is one of them.
Then, surfing around you-tube, I found a nice little interview with Mary Ann Carroll.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oOaLYbUXpg&feature=related
And a pretty cool one featuring Robert Butler.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob8nXTI7st8&feature=related
Then a longer one ( 7 minutes ) with both of them featured.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEYei_GeMs8&feature=PlayList&p=F1DE1B462E8E5DE1&index=0
Enjoy them, gentle readers, I did.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Highwaymen, NOT.....Just learned this today.......
.......and it relates to my opinion stated on Dec 3, which follows :
Tiger's in Florida, right ? And in the news, right?
And I imagine most everyone has been inundated with the story of the Thanksgiving evening car crash, on private property, in Windmere Florida. If you follow sports news, as I do, you can't escape it. Personally, I'm mostly disgusted by the "enquiring minds want to know" atmosphere that seems to be permeating our society. I don't watch Inside Edition, or TMZ, or any of that other crap that glorifies celebrity gossip and scandal. I'm big on personal privacy. Real big.
Here's what I learned this morning, I imagine it's true, I didn't check :
Did you know that Tiger made the front page of the New York Post for 20 consecutive days after Thanksgiving? The previous record was 19 consecutive days dedicated to the 9/11 attacks.
The Big Rotten Apple. High society, eh ?
Hey, wait, ..................am I glorifying celebrity gossip and scandal ?
Nah...I'm just sayin', it ain't right.
Tiger's in Florida, right ? And in the news, right?
And I imagine most everyone has been inundated with the story of the Thanksgiving evening car crash, on private property, in Windmere Florida. If you follow sports news, as I do, you can't escape it. Personally, I'm mostly disgusted by the "enquiring minds want to know" atmosphere that seems to be permeating our society. I don't watch Inside Edition, or TMZ, or any of that other crap that glorifies celebrity gossip and scandal. I'm big on personal privacy. Real big.
Here's what I learned this morning, I imagine it's true, I didn't check :
Did you know that Tiger made the front page of the New York Post for 20 consecutive days after Thanksgiving? The previous record was 19 consecutive days dedicated to the 9/11 attacks.
The Big Rotten Apple. High society, eh ?
Hey, wait, ..................am I glorifying celebrity gossip and scandal ?
Nah...I'm just sayin', it ain't right.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
highwaymen repro listed H Newton eBay
Just so you know, here's the newest misleading eBay listing. We'll see how long this lasts.
Here's the link.:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Florida-Highwaymen-painting-H-Newton-repro_W0QQitemZ280462129014QQcmdZViewItemQQptZArt_Paintings?hash=item414cd87776
It is what it is, depending on what your definition of "is" is.
With apologies to President Clinton. (and we know what he's getting probably right about now, don't we, gentle readers ?)
Here's the link.:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Florida-Highwaymen-painting-H-Newton-repro_W0QQitemZ280462129014QQcmdZViewItemQQptZArt_Paintings?hash=item414cd87776
It is what it is, depending on what your definition of "is" is.
With apologies to President Clinton. (and we know what he's getting probably right about now, don't we, gentle readers ?)
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Highwaymen paintings info.....
I spend a lot of Internet time surfing around for highwaymen news. I figure I should know everything that's going on, after all, I work this market 24/7 and have since 1995.
I came upon this on Monroe's Gray Brewer website the other day. I'm sure you're aware that Monroe wrote the first book about the highwaymen, published in 2001, almost 10 years ago. Where does the time go ?
Here's a copy/paste for you :
Gary Monroe literally wrote the book on the Highwaymen (more than one book actually), and has become recognized as the leading expert on Highwaymen history and interpretation. His site has an excellent viewing gallery of Highwaymen paintings, information about his books on the Highwaymen and other South Florida subjects, as well as collections of his critically acclaimed photography.
History and interpretation of the highwaymen, I'll give him that.
As long as we know, gentle readers, who is recognized as the the leading expert on evaluation and interpretation of the highwaymen art MARKET. We DO know who that is, do we not ?
Here's another from Monroe's other website:
Gary Monroe has given 200 public and private lectures about the Highwaymen and self-taught Floridian art throughout the state and beyond, having earned the decisive voice in interpreting these interesting and often challenging artworks.
Impressive, however..............................
Yours truly had given literally hundreds upon hundreds of public and private lectures about the highwaymen from 1995 to 2001. In those six years, before the publication of that first book, I estimate my antique show presence at 216 shows, 3 different shows a month times 6 years. Did almost every monthly Piccadilly, Mt. Dora, Scott's in Atlanta and many more throughout Florida. At those 216 shows, most of them 3 days long, showing newspaper and magazine clippings written by Fitch and Klinkenberg stapled on a cork-board as proof, I have told the highwaymen story, as we knew it at the time, at least five times per day. Over a thousand mini seminars, informing the public of the history, the interpretation, and the fair market value of whatever I had for sale in inventory at the time.
The motive was (and still is) an attempt at actual commerce. Buy or sell one of these interesting paintings, right ? Try to create commerce.
In the last ten years, the mini seminar count is easily in the thousands. I've averaged the same approximately 3 shows a month for a total of 360 more shows.
Add them all up, we got about 600 shows. Reality could be higher. I'm too lazy to go through all my stuff and actually count them, so I estimate. 600 shows, 5 lectures a show, YOU do the math. That's a lot of lectures.
And still, I meet 2 or 3 people each show who have never heard of the highwaymen. Not surprising when one considers the size of the population, but it shows you how we still have a long way to go to reach the public with the story.
Even with the publication currently standing at 3 Backus books (Peterson, Firestone, Peterson), 3 highwaymen books (Monroe, Beatty, Enns), 2 Harold Newton books (Monroe, Humphries), the Buckner brothers book (Ellis Jr.), and the Al Black Prison Pictures (Monroe).
Even with three video documentaries sold to National Public Broadcasting, which, by the way, should be airing on local PBS stations this month for Black History Month.
Even with color articles in the NY Times, LA Times, Boston Globe and even People Magazine (2003) this market has only scratched the surface.
Investment potential in these vintage paintings that can be so beautiful in your home while we out-wait this pathetic economy ?
One word. PHENOMENAL.
Here's a copy/paste from some self-help wise man at AOL aimed at entrepreneurs. I think of myself as an entrepreneur, so I read things like this. It couldn't hurt.
Find ways to charge a premium
Get the vision
Use long-term thinking
Invest. In the recession, there has been too much emphasis on saving money, which can often be short-sighted. Instead, you need to make investments to make your offering standout. True, this is far from easy in a tough economy. However, if done right, the payoff can be huge.
I have damn near forty years as an entrepreneur in a buy and sell market. Supply and demand, basic economics, learned and earned on the street dealing with the public. I agree with all that insight.
The better works by the deceased artists are certainly worth a premium.
The vision is finding new customers to replace those with no wall space.
Long term means believing the values will improve when the economy cycles upward.
The investment (for me) is time, money and effort.
The investment for you, gentle reader, should be clear.
Demand is down, now is a great buying opportunity.
I came upon this on Monroe's Gray Brewer website the other day. I'm sure you're aware that Monroe wrote the first book about the highwaymen, published in 2001, almost 10 years ago. Where does the time go ?
Here's a copy/paste for you :
Gary Monroe literally wrote the book on the Highwaymen (more than one book actually), and has become recognized as the leading expert on Highwaymen history and interpretation. His site has an excellent viewing gallery of Highwaymen paintings, information about his books on the Highwaymen and other South Florida subjects, as well as collections of his critically acclaimed photography.
History and interpretation of the highwaymen, I'll give him that.
As long as we know, gentle readers, who is recognized as the the leading expert on evaluation and interpretation of the highwaymen art MARKET. We DO know who that is, do we not ?
Here's another from Monroe's other website:
Gary Monroe has given 200 public and private lectures about the Highwaymen and self-taught Floridian art throughout the state and beyond, having earned the decisive voice in interpreting these interesting and often challenging artworks.
Impressive, however..............................
Yours truly had given literally hundreds upon hundreds of public and private lectures about the highwaymen from 1995 to 2001. In those six years, before the publication of that first book, I estimate my antique show presence at 216 shows, 3 different shows a month times 6 years. Did almost every monthly Piccadilly, Mt. Dora, Scott's in Atlanta and many more throughout Florida. At those 216 shows, most of them 3 days long, showing newspaper and magazine clippings written by Fitch and Klinkenberg stapled on a cork-board as proof, I have told the highwaymen story, as we knew it at the time, at least five times per day. Over a thousand mini seminars, informing the public of the history, the interpretation, and the fair market value of whatever I had for sale in inventory at the time.
The motive was (and still is) an attempt at actual commerce. Buy or sell one of these interesting paintings, right ? Try to create commerce.
In the last ten years, the mini seminar count is easily in the thousands. I've averaged the same approximately 3 shows a month for a total of 360 more shows.
Add them all up, we got about 600 shows. Reality could be higher. I'm too lazy to go through all my stuff and actually count them, so I estimate. 600 shows, 5 lectures a show, YOU do the math. That's a lot of lectures.
And still, I meet 2 or 3 people each show who have never heard of the highwaymen. Not surprising when one considers the size of the population, but it shows you how we still have a long way to go to reach the public with the story.
Even with the publication currently standing at 3 Backus books (Peterson, Firestone, Peterson), 3 highwaymen books (Monroe, Beatty, Enns), 2 Harold Newton books (Monroe, Humphries), the Buckner brothers book (Ellis Jr.), and the Al Black Prison Pictures (Monroe).
Even with three video documentaries sold to National Public Broadcasting, which, by the way, should be airing on local PBS stations this month for Black History Month.
Even with color articles in the NY Times, LA Times, Boston Globe and even People Magazine (2003) this market has only scratched the surface.
Investment potential in these vintage paintings that can be so beautiful in your home while we out-wait this pathetic economy ?
One word. PHENOMENAL.
Here's a copy/paste from some self-help wise man at AOL aimed at entrepreneurs. I think of myself as an entrepreneur, so I read things like this. It couldn't hurt.
Find ways to charge a premium
Get the vision
Use long-term thinking
Invest. In the recession, there has been too much emphasis on saving money, which can often be short-sighted. Instead, you need to make investments to make your offering standout. True, this is far from easy in a tough economy. However, if done right, the payoff can be huge.
I have damn near forty years as an entrepreneur in a buy and sell market. Supply and demand, basic economics, learned and earned on the street dealing with the public. I agree with all that insight.
The better works by the deceased artists are certainly worth a premium.
The vision is finding new customers to replace those with no wall space.
Long term means believing the values will improve when the economy cycles upward.
The investment (for me) is time, money and effort.
The investment for you, gentle reader, should be clear.
Demand is down, now is a great buying opportunity.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
highwaymen appraisals
IF YOU ARE OVER ON THE WEST COAST SATURDAY, JAN 30, BE SURE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FREE OFFER FOR VERBAL APPRAISALS.
THE FLORIDIANA SHOW IS THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY YEAR.
THE MAP IS ON MY WEBSITE.
WWW.HIGHWAYMEN-BUY-SELL-TRADE.COM
CLICK ON "SHOW SCHEDULE".
HERE'S THE LINK TO THE ST PETE TIMES
http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/floridiana-festival-offers-oceans-of-kitsch-memorabilia-and-highwaymen-art/1068284
THE TAMPA TRIBUNE IS SCHEDULED TO RUN ITS STORY TODAY, WEDNESDAY.
WHEN I SEE IT, I'LL POST IT HERE.
UPDATE 01/27/10 : The Tampa Tribune just emailed regarding their article on the January 30th show, which discusses the Florida Highwaymen artists and vintage Florida memorabilia. Although the piece had been scheduled to appear in today's paper, it would have had to be cut down, so they are holding it to run in the January 29th "Friday Extra" weekend pull-out entertainment section.
KEEP ME BUSY, PEOPLE. BRING STUFF.
I HOPE TO GIVE YOU A VERY PLEASANT SURPRISE.
THE FLORIDIANA SHOW IS THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY YEAR.
THE MAP IS ON MY WEBSITE.
WWW.HIGHWAYMEN-BUY-SELL-TRADE.COM
CLICK ON "SHOW SCHEDULE".
HERE'S THE LINK TO THE ST PETE TIMES
http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/floridiana-festival-offers-oceans-of-kitsch-memorabilia-and-highwaymen-art/1068284
THE TAMPA TRIBUNE IS SCHEDULED TO RUN ITS STORY TODAY, WEDNESDAY.
WHEN I SEE IT, I'LL POST IT HERE.
UPDATE 01/27/10 : The Tampa Tribune just emailed regarding their article on the January 30th show, which discusses the Florida Highwaymen artists and vintage Florida memorabilia. Although the piece had been scheduled to appear in today's paper, it would have had to be cut down, so they are holding it to run in the January 29th "Friday Extra" weekend pull-out entertainment section.
KEEP ME BUSY, PEOPLE. BRING STUFF.
I HOPE TO GIVE YOU A VERY PLEASANT SURPRISE.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Highwaymen art sales at Venice show................
Good sales, good news, economy must be improving.
Speaking of the economy (he shrewdly segued)...........
I can't help but share this forwarded email I got last week.
It would certainly help my own personal economy, but I don't really have a job suitable for many others.
The Fix
There recently was an article in the St. Petersburg, Fl. Times. The Business Section asked readers for ideas on: "How Would You Fix the Economy?" I think this guy nailed it!
Dear Mr. President, Please find below my suggestion for fixing America 's economy. Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan. You can call it the "Patriotic Retirement Plan":
There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force.
Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:
1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed..
2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered – Auto Industry fixed.
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage – Housing Crisis fixed.
It can't get any easier than that!!
P.S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress pay their taxes...
Mr. President, while you're at it, make Congress retire on Social Security and Medicare. I'll bet both programs would be fixed pronto! If you think this would work, please forward to everyone you know. If not, please disregard.
Speaking of the economy (he shrewdly segued)...........
I can't help but share this forwarded email I got last week.
It would certainly help my own personal economy, but I don't really have a job suitable for many others.
The Fix
There recently was an article in the St. Petersburg, Fl. Times. The Business Section asked readers for ideas on: "How Would You Fix the Economy?" I think this guy nailed it!
Dear Mr. President, Please find below my suggestion for fixing America 's economy. Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan. You can call it the "Patriotic Retirement Plan":
There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force.
Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:
1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed..
2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered – Auto Industry fixed.
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage – Housing Crisis fixed.
It can't get any easier than that!!
P.S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress pay their taxes...
Mr. President, while you're at it, make Congress retire on Social Security and Medicare. I'll bet both programs would be fixed pronto! If you think this would work, please forward to everyone you know. If not, please disregard.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Snapshot of 1995 Highwaymen art market history
I sent an email to a couple of friends who have consigned a Jane Peterson watercolor to me to offer at the shows I do around the state. They had inquired about any results from the last few shows since they gave it to me. They also sent a link to a new highwaymen website.
My response became such a long rambling thing that I figured it was perfect for my blog, which as you know, gentle reader, is filled with long boring rambling stuff.
If it seems a little personal, that's because it was meant for a couple of friends and then, due to a combination of laziness and the new popularity of "reality" things, I decided to just copy and paste the whole damn email.
Here you go.
Hi, guys.
The Peterson is getting its share of compliments. One jerk could only talk about how many fakes there are before I started ignoring him so he'd go away. He wouldn't listen, only wanted to talk, so I faked a phone call.
I spent 1000 in expenses to do WPB and had 2 sales, 150.00 and 400.00.
Another 1000 for Sanibel, 1 sale, 100.00.
Deland cost about 800.00, ended up with zero sales. I don't count the 15.00 book because I tried to give it to you, not sell it. I accepted your money because I didn't feel like arguing with a hard ass guinea from Jersey over fifteen bucks.
I'm not whining or complaining, I'm just reporting these results.
I found Gray Brewer's new site last week, too. Looks like Monroe got to his sons. Gray Brewer was the first real hoarder of highwaymen paintings. Back in the infancy of the market, 1995 or 96, John Phillips went to meet him in Vero or wherever he was on US 1 somewhere. He got a stack of slides and we looked at them together to pick out the best ones. There were over a hundred and most were Harolds. Some of the best were all spotty from mildew or whatever, stored in some barn / warehouse up there.
This was long before we knew people pictures were the good ones, but I don't think Brewer had any, anyway.
After reviewing them, and much discussion, John drove back up and convinced him, overwhelmed him, actually, by offering 500.00 apiece to let him pick out and buy 10 Harolds. He didn't want to sell any of them, but John persuaded him to let go of ten, because 500 each and five grand in cash was WAY WAY WAY too much at the time. You could buy Harolds for 25 to 150 everywhere back then.
As always, Phillips got the best of the deal and came away with 7 or 8 magnificent jumbos and some absolute killers to finish off the 10 picks. I bought 2 of the smaller ones from John, but couldn't get jumbos to fit in my 1990 Buick Regal(we called it the "Silver Bullet", God, I loved that little jet), so I stayed away from them. These paintings were special then and they are still special now. There was also a 24x36 stretched canvas blue and orange seascape in a rope frame that was simply unbelievable. It currently resides in Captiva in a great collection.
Sam Vickers himself got a pair of jumbos, a seascape and a back country, first shot, out of that group of 10. John became friends with Sam and Robbie through that 1st transaction. I was supposed to go with him up to Jax that first trip, but something came up and I couldn't go. Sam drank Scotch with John and Robbie drank Coors Light, no glass, right out of the can like I do. We would have hit it off pretty good, I think. Real people with no pretensions, lots of money but down to earth. Too bad I missed the trip. I regret it to this day.
I certainly heard about Sam's house and his collection, though, in detail and at length from John. The Vickers book by Libby was already out, so I kinda got to see the art that way.
I also knew, because of that sale to Vickers, that the highwaymen market had amazing potential, that Harold's work was solid, desirable, investment quality art, because Sam paid, if I remember, $ 2500.00 each. Buy at 5, sell at 25, gotta like that.
That one deal made me decide to be all in. I saw the light.
This might have been the TRUE birth of the market, shortly after Fitch's first article. John and I grabbed the market by the collar and dragged it along until finally a book got written by someone about the highwaymen in 2001. The author likes to take credit for the "market phenomenon". He has a semi-valid point, but a lot of time, energy and money was spent working this market long before he stumbled in.
If that sounds arrogant, I don't care. I'll be arrogant again tomorrow.
The Vickers-Phillips friendship opened the gates for the easy sale of the orange grove Backus now on the dust jacket cover of Gentle Breezes. John, through luck, bought it and a back country pine from an attorney for whom a high school friend's wife worked. She had seen them in his office. Sam already had a Backus, but wanted the orange grove. He had his brother come over and he bought the back country scene. I remember thinking it was the nicer picture of the two, not appreciating the importance and rarity of the orange grove at the time.
Some of those other Harold jumbos ended up eventually in Otto's collection, including "moondance" for sure, and "swamp monster", I think.
Next show is Venice followed by Melbourne (we'll have ribs again at Smoky Bones) followed by Memorabilia in Gulfport. The Tampa Tribune is supposed to interview me about the Floridiana memorabilia thing this week or next. If it happens, you'll see a positive spin on things regarding Florida art and VINTAGE highwaymen art.
I might post some of this stuff (the story got long, eh) on my blog when I can get in again. Can't right yet.
We had a worm and I lost everything including half a book I had written on the Harold market.
Discouraging to say the least.
When it rains, it pours, but I will never, ever give up.
I'm like a Boston Terrier. Once they bite on something, they just don't let go.
later, BOB
My response became such a long rambling thing that I figured it was perfect for my blog, which as you know, gentle reader, is filled with long boring rambling stuff.
If it seems a little personal, that's because it was meant for a couple of friends and then, due to a combination of laziness and the new popularity of "reality" things, I decided to just copy and paste the whole damn email.
Here you go.
Hi, guys.
The Peterson is getting its share of compliments. One jerk could only talk about how many fakes there are before I started ignoring him so he'd go away. He wouldn't listen, only wanted to talk, so I faked a phone call.
I spent 1000 in expenses to do WPB and had 2 sales, 150.00 and 400.00.
Another 1000 for Sanibel, 1 sale, 100.00.
Deland cost about 800.00, ended up with zero sales. I don't count the 15.00 book because I tried to give it to you, not sell it. I accepted your money because I didn't feel like arguing with a hard ass guinea from Jersey over fifteen bucks.
I'm not whining or complaining, I'm just reporting these results.
I found Gray Brewer's new site last week, too. Looks like Monroe got to his sons. Gray Brewer was the first real hoarder of highwaymen paintings. Back in the infancy of the market, 1995 or 96, John Phillips went to meet him in Vero or wherever he was on US 1 somewhere. He got a stack of slides and we looked at them together to pick out the best ones. There were over a hundred and most were Harolds. Some of the best were all spotty from mildew or whatever, stored in some barn / warehouse up there.
This was long before we knew people pictures were the good ones, but I don't think Brewer had any, anyway.
After reviewing them, and much discussion, John drove back up and convinced him, overwhelmed him, actually, by offering 500.00 apiece to let him pick out and buy 10 Harolds. He didn't want to sell any of them, but John persuaded him to let go of ten, because 500 each and five grand in cash was WAY WAY WAY too much at the time. You could buy Harolds for 25 to 150 everywhere back then.
As always, Phillips got the best of the deal and came away with 7 or 8 magnificent jumbos and some absolute killers to finish off the 10 picks. I bought 2 of the smaller ones from John, but couldn't get jumbos to fit in my 1990 Buick Regal(we called it the "Silver Bullet", God, I loved that little jet), so I stayed away from them. These paintings were special then and they are still special now. There was also a 24x36 stretched canvas blue and orange seascape in a rope frame that was simply unbelievable. It currently resides in Captiva in a great collection.
Sam Vickers himself got a pair of jumbos, a seascape and a back country, first shot, out of that group of 10. John became friends with Sam and Robbie through that 1st transaction. I was supposed to go with him up to Jax that first trip, but something came up and I couldn't go. Sam drank Scotch with John and Robbie drank Coors Light, no glass, right out of the can like I do. We would have hit it off pretty good, I think. Real people with no pretensions, lots of money but down to earth. Too bad I missed the trip. I regret it to this day.
I certainly heard about Sam's house and his collection, though, in detail and at length from John. The Vickers book by Libby was already out, so I kinda got to see the art that way.
I also knew, because of that sale to Vickers, that the highwaymen market had amazing potential, that Harold's work was solid, desirable, investment quality art, because Sam paid, if I remember, $ 2500.00 each. Buy at 5, sell at 25, gotta like that.
That one deal made me decide to be all in. I saw the light.
This might have been the TRUE birth of the market, shortly after Fitch's first article. John and I grabbed the market by the collar and dragged it along until finally a book got written by someone about the highwaymen in 2001. The author likes to take credit for the "market phenomenon". He has a semi-valid point, but a lot of time, energy and money was spent working this market long before he stumbled in.
If that sounds arrogant, I don't care. I'll be arrogant again tomorrow.
The Vickers-Phillips friendship opened the gates for the easy sale of the orange grove Backus now on the dust jacket cover of Gentle Breezes. John, through luck, bought it and a back country pine from an attorney for whom a high school friend's wife worked. She had seen them in his office. Sam already had a Backus, but wanted the orange grove. He had his brother come over and he bought the back country scene. I remember thinking it was the nicer picture of the two, not appreciating the importance and rarity of the orange grove at the time.
Some of those other Harold jumbos ended up eventually in Otto's collection, including "moondance" for sure, and "swamp monster", I think.
Next show is Venice followed by Melbourne (we'll have ribs again at Smoky Bones) followed by Memorabilia in Gulfport. The Tampa Tribune is supposed to interview me about the Floridiana memorabilia thing this week or next. If it happens, you'll see a positive spin on things regarding Florida art and VINTAGE highwaymen art.
I might post some of this stuff (the story got long, eh) on my blog when I can get in again. Can't right yet.
We had a worm and I lost everything including half a book I had written on the Harold market.
Discouraging to say the least.
When it rains, it pours, but I will never, ever give up.
I'm like a Boston Terrier. Once they bite on something, they just don't let go.
later, BOB
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