Fame Without Fortune: The Autobiography of Ray McLendon, Second-Generation Florida Highwayman

For the first time, readers can delve into the world of the Florida Highwaymen landscape artists from the unique perspective of popular artist Ray McLendon, a son of original Highwayman painter R.A. “Roy” McLendon, Sr. In particular, Ray’s autobiography, starting with his childhood, is a rare look into the life of the very private McLendon artist family.Here, you’ll discover the close connections that Ray’s family had/have to several of the other first-generation African American artists who started painting the idyllic Florida landscapes in the 1950s. You’ll peek into the lives of the family’s closest artist friends, such as: Harold Newton, Alfred Hair, Willie and Johnny Daniels, James Gibson, Curtis Arnett, and Al Black. You’ll come to understand the place in both Florida and national history that the Highwaymen have finally secured, after decades of painting and traveling.Ray’s is a first-hand account of struggle and survival, of growing up rough in a migrant family in the segregated south, and of triumphing over adversity. The compelling narrative traces Ray’s personal journey as the McLendon family makes its way from picking citrus and vegetables in hot fields to entering the world of landscape art and, along with the other Highwaymen, to getting their work in the Smithsonian Museum.During segregation, the African American artists who were later called Highwaymen went to great lengths to create and sell their paintings. Unable to show their art in galleries or museums, they defied all odds, took to the roads, and sold an estimated 200,000 paintings from the mid 1950s-1970’s. In preserving the history of Florida, the landscape as it once existed, they were part of the Indian River School art movement and, decades after they started, they became an important, celebrated part of African American art history. In late 2023, the prices of their paintings continue to rise. At this publication, six of the original 26 Florida Highwaymen survive. They leave their landscape art tradition in the capable hands of their second-generation artist children, including Ray and his brother Roy.This is a high quality, glossy-cover coffee table book. It contains professional photos of many of Ray’s plates and includes premium color and premium white paper throughout. Read more