2023-2024
2023-2024
Photo: Aric Attas Creative
Photo: Aric Attas Creative
PAST EXHIBITIONS | SEASON 63
PAST EXHIBITIONS | SEASON 63
BEST OF THE BEST
Annual Juried Exhibition
BEST OF THE BEST
Annual Juried Exhibition
Annual Juried Exhibition
October 8 – November 10, 2023
The Backus Museum is the home of the Treasure Coast’s longest continuously held juried art competition, now in its 42nd year. This well-established commitment to practicing artists results in the annual presentation, which shines its spotlight on the finest artwork, by both amateurs and professionals from around the state and in a wide variety of media. Every year, a new independent jury panel discovers “the best,” and rewards creative distinction, exceptional quality and skill, and outstanding presentation with cash prizes. The Best of the Best heralds the opening of our 63rd Season. Entries accepted by advance appointment Sep 6 – 29; see Prospectus available Aug 1 for details.
W. M. Kiplinger (1891-1967), a famed Washington journalist with a home on Sewall's Point in Stuart, discovered the art of A. E. Backus and befriended him in the 1950s. Despite the differences in their lives, Kiplinger found in Backus a close counterpart, and commissioned a number of significant paintings. A tireless letter writer, Kiplinger corresponded with his friend as well as with other artists he met at the Backus Studio, including a remarkable exchange with future Highwaymen artist Alfred Hair (1941-1970). This exhibition is the first public showing of these paintings and rare letters, and also includes selected works by Al Black, Walter Cole, Willie Daniels, James F. Hutchinson, Kevin Hutchinson, Therese Knowles, Roy McLendon, Harold Newton, and Sam Newton acquired by W.M. Kiplinger, and in recent years the Kiplinger Family, that honor the Backus legacy.
KINDRED
SPIRITS
November 17, 2023 – January 7, 2024
Backus, A.E. (1906-1990). Orange Grove, c. 1960. Oil on canvas, 30 x 36 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
Backus, A.E. (1906-1990). Tornado of April 15 1958 Fort Pierce, 1958. Oil on canvas, 24 x 36 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
Knowles, Therese (1918-2008). Grove Scene, c. 1960. Oil on canvas, 24 x 36 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
Hutchinson, James F. (1932-2023). Morning Hammock, 1991. Oil on canvas, 36 x 24 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
McLendon, R.A. (Roy) (b. 1932). Indian River Nocturne, not dated. Oil on Upson board, 24 x 36 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
Cole, Walter (1934-1965). Florida Fishing Boats, c. 1960. OIl on canvas panel, 19.25 x 23.25 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
Backus, A.E. (1906-1990). Orange Grove, c. 1960. Oil on canvas, 30 x 36 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
Backus, A.E. (1906-1990). Tornado of April 15 1958 Fort Pierce, 1958. Oil on canvas, 24 x 36 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
Knowles, Therese (1918-2008). Grove Scene, c. 1960. Oil on canvas, 24 x 36 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
Hutchinson, James F. (1932-2023). Morning Hammock, 1991. Oil on canvas, 36 x 24 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
McLendon, R.A. (Roy) (b. 1932). Indian River Nocturne, not dated. Oil on Upson board, 24 x 36 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
Cole, Walter (1934-1965). Florida Fishing Boats, c. 1960. OIl on canvas panel, 19.25 x 23.25 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
Backus, A.E. (1906-1990). Tornado of April 15 1958 Fort Pierce, 1958. Oil on canvas, 24 x 36 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
Knowles, Therese (1918-2008). Grove Scene, c. 1960. Oil on canvas, 24 x 36 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
Hutchinson, James F. (1932-2023). Morning Hammock, 1991. Oil on canvas, 36 x 24 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
McLendon, R.A. (Roy) (b. 1932). Indian River Nocturne, not dated. Oil on Upson board, 24 x 36 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
Cole, Walter (1934-1965). Florida Fishing Boats, c. 1960. OIl on canvas panel, 19.25 x 23.25 in. Kiplinger Family Collection.
Paintings & Letters from the Kiplinger Family Collection
Paintings & Letters from the Kiplinger Family Collection
When a nineteen-year-old Harold Newton became inspired to paint the Florida landscape in 1954, his vision, courage, and accomplishments encouraged his friends and neighbors to take up paintbrushes and follow a new path as professional artists. Over time, dozens of individuals joined the venture and unintentionally founded a movement. After more than fifty years in becoming an overnight success, the 26 landscape artists now known as The Original Highwaymen were inducted in 2004 into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. This exhibition of rarely seen paintings, gathered from private collections, celebrates their first fifty years of fame and bold course forward to the hard-won triumph of statewide recognition.
FAST FORWARD
January 13 – March 3, 2024
Newton, Sam (b. 1948). Washer Woman, not dated. Oil on Upson board, 24 x 36 in. Roger Lightle Collection.
Roberts, Livingston (1942-2004). Rough Break, not dated. Oil on Upson board, 24 x 36 in. Roger Lightle Collection.
Newton, Harold (1934-1994). Rio Mar Storm, not dated. Oil on Masonite, 24 x 36 in. John & Stephanie Sassano Collection.
Hair, Alfred (1941-1970). Night Breakers, not dated. Oil on Upson board, 36 x 96 in. Private Collection.
Newton, Sam (b. 1948). Washer Woman, not dated. Oil on Upson board, 24 x 36 in. Roger Lightle Collection.
Roberts, Livingston (1942-2004). Rough Break, not dated. Oil on Upson board, 24 x 36 in. Roger Lightle Collection.
Roberts, Livingston (1942-2004). Rough Break, not dated. Oil on Upson board, 24 x 36 in. Roger Lightle Collection.
Newton, Harold (1934-1994). Rio Mar Storm, not dated. Oil on Masonite, 24 x 36 in. John & Stephanie Sassano Collection.
Hair, Alfred (1941-1970). Night Breakers, not dated. Oil on Upson board, 36 x 96 in. Private Collection.
The Original Florida Highwaymen on the Way to Fame 1954-2004
The Original Florida Highwaymen on the Way to Fame 1954-2004
The Korshak Collection features works by pioneering artists from over a century of published science fiction, horror, and fantasy. These original adventure and fantasy illustrations appeared on the covers and pages of timeless novels, and in classic pulp magazines from the 1930s through 1960s such as Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, Fantastic Adventures, and Wonder Stories. The exhibition features works by such masters as Aubrey Beardsley, Arthur Rackham, Gustave Doré, Howard Pyle, Virgil Finlay, Kelly Freas, J. Allen St. John, Frank Frazetta, and Michael Whelan. With outstanding images of Martian princesses, Arthurian legends, ethereal fairies, alien invaders, imaginative pasts and fanciful, uncertain futures, Art of the Fantastic is far and away a superb survey of the extraordinary.
ART OF THE FANTASTIC
Imaginative Illustration from the Korshak Collection
March 8 – April 28, 2024
Frazetta, Frank (1928-2010). Swords of Mars and Synthetic Men of Mars, 1974. Oil on canvas board, 19 x 13 in. Courtesy of the Korshak Collection.
Fortescue-Brickdale, Eleanor (1871-1945). The Moth, 1917. Watercolor and gouache on paper, 11.5 x 18.5 in. Courtesy of the Korshak Collection.
Rackham, Arthur (1867-1939). Alice's Adventure in Wonderland, 1907. Pen and ink with watercolor on paper, 10.5 x 7 in. Courtesy of the Korshak Collection.
Rogers, Hubert (1898-1982). Crisis in Utopia, 1940. Oil on board, 21 x 21.5 in. Courtesy of the Korshak Collection.
Bok, Hannes (1914-1964). A Rose for Ecclesiastes, 1963. Gouache on illustration board, 11 x 16 in. Courtesy of the Korshak Collection.
Frazetta, Frank (1928-2010). Swords of Mars and Synthetic Men of Mars, 1974. Oil on canvas board, 19 x 13 in. Courtesy of the Korshak Collection.
Fortescue-Brickdale, Eleanor (1871-1945). The Moth, 1917. Watercolor and gouache on paper, 11.5 x 18.5 in. Courtesy of the Korshak Collection.
Rackham, Arthur (1867-1939). Alice's Adventure in Wonderland, 1907. Pen and ink with watercolor on paper, 10.5 x 7 in. Courtesy of the Korshak Collection.
Rogers, Hubert (1898-1982). Crisis in Utopia, 1940. Oil on board, 21 x 21.5 in. Courtesy of the Korshak Collection.
Bok, Hannes (1914-1964). A Rose for Ecclesiastes, 1963. Gouache on illustration board, 11 x 16 in. Courtesy of the Korshak Collection.
Fortescue-Brickdale, Eleanor (1871-1945). The Moth, 1917. Watercolor and gouache on paper, 11.5 x 18.5 in. Courtesy of the Korshak Collection.
Rackham, Arthur (1867-1939). Alice's Adventure in Wonderland, 1907. Pen and ink with watercolor on paper, 10.5 x 7 in. Courtesy of the Korshak Collection.
Rogers, Hubert (1898-1982). Crisis in Utopia, 1940. Oil on board, 21 x 21.5 in. Courtesy of the Korshak Collection.
Bok, Hannes (1914-1964). A Rose for Ecclesiastes, 1963. Gouache on illustration board, 11 x 16 in. Courtesy of the Korshak Collection.
This favorite open competition by the Backus Museum continues its long tradition of appreciating photography as a distinct art form. For nearly thirty years, this annual presentation brings into focus the finest images in traditional and digital photography, by both amateurs and professionals from around the state. An independent jury panel each year considers every entry and awards the superior examples with awards and cash prizes.
Entries accepted by advance appointment Apr 10 – May 3; see Prospectus available Mar 13 for details.
THROUGH THE EYE OF THE CAMERA
Annual Juried Exhibition
May 10 – June 21, 2024
All dates and programming subject to change; please check for any updates or cancellations. We will always follow the latest public health guidance to insure the safety of our visitors, volunteers, and staff.
All dates and programming subject to change; please check for any updates or cancellations. We will always follow the latest public health guidance to insure the safety of our visitors, volunteers, and staff.
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