Book Review
Review by Jonathan Herbert
‘Alfred Hair, The Heart of the
Highwaymen’
by Gary Monroe
Alfred Hair was a generational talent
whose short life energized an insatiable
thirst for painting the Florida landscape
during the era of Jim Crow segregation. “Alfred
Hair: Heart of the Highwaymen,” is a testament
to the life and work of Alfred Hair, written by
Gary Monroe, retired professor of fi ne arts and
photography at Daytona State College.
The author introduces us to Hair and provides
an in-depth look at his upbringing, growth as
an artist, and romantic escapades and marriage,
ending with the tragic events that unfolded at
the juke joint known as Eddie’s Place the night
of August 9, 1970. Alfred Hair was a man who
lifted the spirits of the Highwaymen painters and
enhanced the idea of Florida through his art.
One critic very aptly wrote, “The romantic
notion of fi nding God in the wilds and oneself
in the process harkens back to the origins of the
sublime in landscape painting. At the very least,
people often long to connect to the essential
self in an otherwise chaotic world, to fi nd
communion with the divine in nature. It seems
apparent that Alfred Hair shared these ambitions
as he expressed himself, however unconsciously,
through painting.”
16 GASPARILLA MAGAZINE • May/June • 2021
Gary Monroe portrays Hair as a man with
incredible spirit, drive, and passion for art and
life; the story is heartbreaking and inspirational.
Countless images of his Florida landscape paintings
illuminate each page in the second half of
this powerful book. If you live in the South and
know the Florida landscape, this collection will
enhance your vision and remind you how lucky
you are to see it everyday.
Alfred Hair made countless Florida landscape
paintings, as did the other artists who took their
cues from him. “His artwork inspired a group of
artists known as the Highwaymen, and marked
the end of one kind of image codifi cation
associated with new frontiers and the beginning
of another kind of imagery,” Monroe said. “The
glorifi cation of nature was part and parcel of
the Hudson River School of art in the midnineteenth
century, and the idea accompanied
that of Manifest Destiny.”
The author describes Hair’s style as “especially
loose and gestural, with a noticeably carefree fl air
that guided him across the boards’ surface as he
painted.” Hair’s high school art teacher, Zanobia
Jefferson, summed up the transcendent nature of
Alfred’s best paintings: “You become part of the
paintings.”
Hair’s images are infused with the same
abandon with which he painted. His own sense
of liberation while engaged in wielding his palette
knife not only comes through on the surfaces
of his boards, but becomes the substance of his
paintings. This ineffable quality distinguishes him
and his art; it sets his creations apart from others’
of the group and in the broader world.”
“His artwork inspired a group of
artists known as the Highwaymen
and marked the end of one kind of
image codifi cation associated with
new frontiers and the beginning of
another kind of imagery.”