Note Type
Antony Hayton, Exhibit DirectorNote
Alfred Hair (1941-1970)
In The Everglades
Oil On Upson Board Circa 1965
Image size 24" X 36"
Alfred Hair's ambition and influence cannot be underestimated. Yes, Harold Newton is acknowledged as the most talented artist and a mentor to all, but he was a loner and a nomad. He was older than most of the other artists and was used to doing his own thing. But Alfred Hair was a man with a plan, and that plan was to be a millionaire by the time he was 35, and he innovated his "Florida Art Factory" to make it happen. Production line "speed painting" was his solution for producing inexpensive art. Perhaps inadvertently, he tapped into Florida's boom and growth and a sizeable new marketplace of people and businesses unaccustomed to buying original art. Hair made it not only affordable for them, but he also gave them his interpretation of Florida as a Dream Paradise. The combination was irresistible.
The poor art he could paint, the more he could earn. Art was a means to a financial end and a direct and practical response to overcoming racism. Such paintings as this convey an aura of freedom and hope in the form of an untouched tropical Eden. Here, there is no despair or oppression nor the influence of man. Instead, we observe a timeless representation of Florida that was as much Hair's imagination and more so than it was of reality. It was Hair's tropical fantasy, almost a dream of freedom, and he has provided us with a window to that land.