Highwaymen Art collecting is at an all time high, with prices on Ebay reaching into the thousands of dollars for the old Florida art that once sold from the sides of cars for less than thirty-five dollars! This guide will teach the beginner what to look for when searching for the art while on Ebay.

To identify vintage Highwaymen art, you need to know what indentifiable characteristics to look for. The Highwaymen artists used discarded pieces of masonite and upson board from construction sights as their canvas, therefore older pieces are easy to identify, for the canvas is slightly thick construction board, often rough around the edges, where pieces were cut into makeshift canvases. The frames were often left unpainted, giving the apperance a “shabby chic” look. Sometimes one might find pieces that have gold or copper haphazardly painted onto the frame.

The paintings themselves where usually done in bold colors, paintings of old Florida scenery before industrialization. The most well-known depict stormy oceans and wind-swept palm trees, all of Florida’s natural furry personified by artists Harold Newton and Alfred Hair. The landscape techniques the artists used was to paint with the use of a palmetto knife as well as brush, thus giving the painting a thickened layer applied effect, and many of the artists used this technique, as well as scratching their name with the knife into the paint when signing their signature. Over 100,000 paintings were completed between the 1950’s and 70’s, with various themes from oceans to lakes, trees, fields, old homesteads and more. Rarer Highwaymen works often have animals and people painted onto the canvas as well. Popular artists to look for include: Sam and Harold Newton, Alfred Hair, R.A. McLendon, Robert Butler, Mary Ann Carrol (the only woman of the group) and James Gibson. All Highwaymen art is collectible, though some is worth more than others, depending on rarity (animals, people, closelines, buildings painted in) and artist.

Sellers on Ebay will often show the signature and close-up shots of the painting and frame, so it is easy to tell when the painting has that old Florida look. One should check the feedback rating of the individual seller to see if they have sold other Highwaymen paintings and if previous transactions were satisfactory.