Alfred Hair (1941-1971) Florida Highwaymen, O/B

Dramatic rendering of a coastal scene, with lone palm tree and crashing wave, set against a vibrant orange sky. Oil on upson board, inscribe-signed lower right A. Hair, frame of the period.Alfred Hair lived his short life fully, with a zest and intensity that informed his art. In high school he made canvas frames in the Fort Pierce studio of A. E. Backus, the painter who inspired the style of the Highwaymen, and soon became the artist’s protégé. By the time Hair graduated in 1961, he was painting luminous South Florida landscapes and selling them door to door. One of the only formally trained Highwaymen, he spurred on the collective of artists as they traversed the state in search of the white clientele who would buy their artwork.Hair’s paintings are marked by their spontaneous, gestural, carefree flair. He was known for his fast-painting style, working on as many as twenty pictures at a time to make more money. His goal, as he often declared, was to be a millionaire. Sadly, Alfred Hair’s life was cut short in 1970, the result of a bar room brawl. Overall size: 28 x 52 in. Sight size: 23 x 47 in.