Reviews
"The Highwaymen is a valuable document of Florida's rich cultural past, showing how black artists contributed to the dreamy visions of Florida that were being aggressively marketed at a time when air conditioning and mosquito repellent in the 1950s made the state a desirable destination. ." - The Miami Herald
--The Miami Herald
"A culturally significant work." - Choice Magazine
--Choice
"It is fascinating and a choice slice of Florida history." - Lakeland News Chief
--News Chief
"It is fascinating and a choice slice of Florida history." - Accent
--Accent
"This book reveals a body of work that conveys a definite feeling of time and place, as well as personal variances that become increasingly visible as you examine the selection of pictures." - Intuit's Outsider Magazine
--Intuit's Outsider Magazine
"The gorgeous little volume documents for the first time a unique Florida phenomenon which was never formally recognized until 1994 and which is only now coming into national appreciation. A valuable addition to any Florida art buff's collection." - Press- Journal
--Press- Journal, Vero Beach, Fl
"An intriguing look at part of Florida's social history and the world of self- taught artists." - Maine Antique Digest.
--Maine Antique Digest
"the best book on the subject" - South Florida Sun-Sentinel
--South Florida Sun-Sentinel
"the best book on the subject" - South Florida Sun-Sentinel
--South Florida Sun-Sentinel
"The Florida of the 'Highwaymen,' as art historians now refer to them, is a lost romantic realm." "Some of the paintings they created are incredibly beautiful renderings of the American tropics- as powerful as anything Winslow Homer produced, in watercolor and oil, during his winter stays in the Bahamas and Florida." "Andy Warhol, who was so devoted to the indigenous artists of America, would have loved this book." - Bloomsbury Review
--Bloomsbury Review
"Monroe tells this fascinating tale in a volume that collects many of these beautiful paintings." - Tampa Tribune
--Tampa Tribune
"BEST FLORIDA BOOK: The Highwaymen: Florida's African American Landscape Painters (be Gary Monroe)" - Florida Monthly
--Florida Monthly
"From the late 1950s into the early '80s these colorful landscapes were ubiquitous decorations in Florida homes, offices, restaurants, and motel rooms. They shaped the state's popular image as much as oranges and alligators."- New York Times
--New York Times
"The book includes more than 60 beautifully rendered photographic reproductions of Highwaymen paintings that are a joy to behold. For anyone who loves Florida- with its intense vivid colors, its subtropical flora and climate, its sunrises and sunsets, its wind swept palm trees, and its many birds- this remarkable story will speak volumes." - The Observer
--The Observer
"A factual and visual work which should appeal to all students of Florida history, art, and the human spirit."
--H-Net