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ray of Florida political and business leaders, including former
Sen. George Smathers, Boca Raton banker and Florida Atlantic
University founder Thomas Fleming, and former Govs. LeRoy
Collins and Bob Graham who wrote the foreward, purchased
Backus paintings. The book states that men were especially attracted
to paintings of rural Florida — backcountry and river
scenes — because they could hang them in their office and
imagine they were hunting or fishing rather than working.
Albert Ernest Backus was born in Fort Pierce in 1906 to
George Tay Backus and Josephine Sheridan, who moved
from New Jersey at the end of the 19th century. The section
on Backus’ biography draws upon numerous sources gained
from personal interviews and the written record. Unfortunately,
it’s written in the style of an academic research paper.
Most of the direct quotes, except those from Backus, are not
attributed in the text. Instead, they are footnoted, requiring a
reader to go to the bibliography at the end of the book to find
out who said it.
For example, Backus’ well-known lack of racial prejudice
was described in the book as having had an impact on the >>
Backus’ The Boat Yard, which he painted around 1951, graces the cover of
the new book by Natasha Kuzmanovic, an art historian and conservator.
The painting is in the Vartanian Collection.
TROPICAL LIGHT: THE ART OF A.E. BACKUS
Author: Natasha Kuzmanovic
Published by: A.E. Backus Museum, in association with
The Vendome Press, New York (2016)
Price: $75; available at the museum’s store
/www.verobeachmuseum.org
/www.verobeachmuseum.org