<I>Lone Palm</I>
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1972
name: label: Created by
content: Harold Newton, American, 1934 - 1994
notes: label: Caption
content: 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.
label: Caption
content: 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.
label: Caption
content: Fort Pierce and the Florida Humanities Council. “The Highwaymen Trail.” 2012. https://thehighwaymentrail.com/bibliography/.
label: Description
content: Oil painting of a palm tree along a shoreline in low light. The painting (a) has low green grasses covering the foreground up to the body of water. There is a palm tree with a slightly curved trunk in the center of the image. The right side has green leafy tree branches from out of the frame. The long branches at the top partially obscure the sun. There is soft white light shining through the tree cover. The sun is reflected on the water below. The light blue water blends into the horizon and the hazy blue sky. The painting is signed in the bottom right.
label: Description
content: The wooden frame (b) is made from repurposed construction materials. The frame has a white base layer. The upper edge of the frame has another layer of gold-colored paint. There are streaks of white paint on the reverse. The textured board is secured with small nails. A wire is anchored with a nail on each side and strung across the upper back. The sides of the frame are nailed together at the corners.
place: label: Place made
content: Fort Pierce, Saint Lucie County, Florida, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: American South
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Nature
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: 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
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2014.185.7ab
objectType: label: Type
content: oil paintings
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Harold Newton
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: oil paint on fiberboard
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (framed): 26 1/4 × 18 1/4 × 1 1/4 in. (66.7 × 46.4 × 3.2 cm)