Sunrise over the Marshland

Object Details

Created by

Charles "Chico" Wheeler, American, born 1946

Caption

Chico Wheeler 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. Wheeler also worked in citrus groves for supplemental income. He began painting in the 1960s after starting out as a frame maker for another Highwaymen, Alfred Hair.

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, Wheeler sold his paintings 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.

Fort Pierce and the Florida Humanities Council. “The Highwaymen Trail.” 2012. https://thehighwaymentrail.com/bibliography/.

Description

Oil painting of a Florida landscape during sunrise. The painting (a) shows a marshland scene. There are white egrets or cranes in the water, one with lifted wings in the foreground and others in flight. There is a palm tree in the low marsh water on the left. There is a small island with trees on the right of the image. Vegetation, including palm trees, is also visible along the shoreline. The sky is shown in shades of blue and pink and is reflected on the water. The painting is signed in the bottom left. The reverse of the board has numerical inscriptions and paint splatter.

The wooden frame (b) is brown in color and made from repurposed construction materials. The frame has gold-colored paint with a textured band near the image. The reverse of the frame has brown tape along each edge. A metal wire anchored with a screw eye on each side is strung across the upper back. The painting is secured to the frame under protruding nails. The reverse of the frame has numerical inscriptions.

Credit Line

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

ca. 2010

Object number

2014.185.1ab

Restrictions & Rights

Unknown - Restrictions Possible

Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

Type

oil paintings

Medium

oil paint on Masonite (TM)

Dimensions

H x W x D (framed): 15 1/2 × 19 1/2 × 2 in. (39.4 × 49.5 × 5.1 cm)

Place made

Fort Pierce, Saint Lucie County, Florida, United States, North and Central America

See more items in

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification

Visual Arts

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Topic

African American

American South

Art

Nature

Record ID

nmaahc_2014.185.1ab

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd55513c96a-ed07-445d-b14a-705bfd42237f