Albert E. Backus
(American/Florida, 1906-1990)

"Marshland with a Horse and Herons on a Florida Ranch"

oil on canvas
signed lower right.
Framed.
20" x 24", framed 26-3/4" x 30-3/4"

Provenance: Private collection, Florida.

Exhibited: Harold Newton Retrospective, 1954-1992, Foosaner Art Museum, Melbourne, Florida, November 6-December 19, 2020.

Notes: "We really do have Backus clouds, and often. We really do have water that color, and peculiar light effects, and often…. Actually, Backus is "telling it like it is" - namely, beautiful" - Griffin Smith, art critic/editor, "Backus Reigns at Bacardi", Miami Herald, Jan 11, 1970,

A.E. "Bean" Backus, often regarded painter laureate of Florida, a native son and visual poet, captured the flora and fauna of Florida for more than half a century, inspiring generations to come, most notably the Highwaymen. Largely self-taught, his style is unique to Florida - it is vivid, bold; it is bright, even a little kitsch at times in its iconic skyline grandeur - an homage to his early commercial days - but, above all, the lighting is magnetic. Backus' command of colors, executed through broad palette knives and later brushwork, scintillate. The billowing clouds, roiling shadows, and mangroves that devour all evoke the heat of the tropical climate, creating an effect as visceral as it is visual


By the 1980s, Backus was at the apex of his success. Demand was so great for his landscapes that the Miami Herald reported that he had a two-year backlog of orders from wealthy collectors and businessmen that included former President Lyndon B. Johnson, governors, congressmen, and majors ranchers and agricultural developers - for which commissions included travel by airboat and swamp buggy to reach Florida terrain unadulterated by development and tourism. This unique commission celebrates flora and wetlands of Florida ranches as well its fauna- the herons and a prized halter horse.

In overall very good condition with no visible repairs or inpainting detected under UV light. There is some light abrading to the top edge from friction with frame. There is some faint craquelure forming. Painting is in original Backus frame and was painted ca. 1950.