Robert Butler (artist)

Infobox Person
name = Robert Butler


image_size =
caption = "Historian With a Brush"
birth_name = Robert Butler
birth_date = 1943
birth_place = Baxley, Georgia
residence = Lakeland, Florida
nationality = African American
known_for = Paintings depicting Florida's Wildlife and Lanscapes
education = High School
boards = The Florida Highwaymen LLC (Pres.)
religion = NA
spouse = Dorothy Butler
children = Robert Jr., Daniel, David (deceased)
Samuel, Dorene, Timothy
Michael (deceased), Aletha, Angela
parents = Annie Talifer Butler
website = http://robertbutler.com
footnotes =

Robert Butler was born in the small timber and farming community of Baxley, Georgia in 1943. In 1947 events transpired that brought Robert to the community of Okeechobee, Florida. A move that must have been providential because it was on the shores of Lake Okeechobee in the heart of Florida's Everglades backcountry that he developed a familiarity with the woods and waters that are so honestly rendered in his paintings. Raised by his mother, Annie Talifer Butler, who always took time to instill the principles of faith and compassion in her family, Butler looks upon his beginnings as "classically American."

Early life

His professional career began in 1968. In the early days, that required selling his paintings door-to-door or roadside. Robert honed his skills by pushing the limits of his artistic talents. He accumulated a vast amount of knowledge by creating more than one hundred paintings a year. He had no formal training to facilitate an inherent artistic spirit. Robert developed a style exemplified by a dramatically lit and romanticized portrayal of the landscape.

Exhibits/Displays

*Zora Neale Hurston [http://www.zoranealehurstonfestival.com/index.html Festival of the Arts and Humanities (ZORA! Festival)]
(Festival Judge)
Orlando, Florida
* [http://www.miniature-art.com/ The Miniature Art Society of Florida] Judge 04'
* [http://www.cookman.edu/ Bethume Cookman College]
Daytona Beach, Florida

*Hillsborough Community College
Tampa, Florida

*Stetson University Law School
Clearwater, Florida

*Orlando History Center
Orlando, Florida

*Florida House of Representatives
Washington, D.C.
* [http://www.dusablemuseum.org Dusable Museum of African American History]
Chicago, Illinois

*Florida State Capitol Building
Tallahassee, Florida

*Tampa Museum of Art
Tampa, Florida
* [http://www.thpl.org/thpl/friends/ Friends of the Library of Tampa-Hillsborough County, Inc.]
Tampa, Florida
* [http://www.appletonmuseum.org/ The Appleton Museum of Art]
Ocala, Florida
* [http://www.moas.org/general%20information.html The Museum of Arts & Sciences (MOAS)]
Daytona Beach, Florida

*Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
Tallahassee, Florida
* [http://www.fgcu.edu/ Florida Gulf Coast University]

*University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida

*Miami Science Museum/
Miami, Florida

*Strawberry Festival Judge
Plant City, Florida

*Florida Second District Court Of Appeals
Lakeland, Florida

Newspapers/Magazines Articles

* [http://web.archive.org/web/*sa_dc_pd_/http://floridawildlifemagazine.com Florida Wildlife Magazine] Cover 78'
*Hydro Magazine
*Florida Trend Magazine
*South Florida Sun-Sentinel Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
*St. Petersburg Times St. Petersburg, Florida
*The Miami Herald Miami, Florida
*The News-Press Ft. Myers, Florida
*The Ledger Lakeland, Florida
*The Tampa Tribune Tampa, Florida
*Gulf Coast Life
*South Florida Sun-Sentinel Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
*Florida Land and Livestock News
*The Florida Cattlemen Cover 96'
* [http://www.newschief.com/ Winter Haven News Chief] Winter Haven, Florida
*Orlando Sentinel Orlando, Florida
*Star-Banner Ocala, Florida
*The Gainesville Sun Gainesville, Florida
* [http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage Tallahassee Democrat] Tallahassee, Florida
*Sarasota Herald-Tribune Sarasota, Florida
*Okeechobee News Okeechobee, Florida
* [http://www.monroejournal.com/Home.html The Monroe Journal] Monroeville, Alabama
*The Gainesville Sun Gainesville, Florida
*News Chief Winter Haven, Florida04'
* [http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/UFDC/?c=fdnl1Florida Digital Newspaper Library]

Influences

*Luminism
* [http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/kl/luminism.html Luminists]
* [http://www.askart.com/askart/artist.aspx?artist=101961 Albert Ernest Bean Backus]
A. E. Backus

References

* [http://www.2dca.org/robert_butler_gallery.htm Florida Second District Court Of Appeals]
* [http://www.askart.com/askart/artist.aspx?artist=136480 Robert Butler (20th Century)] at [http://www.askart.com/AskART/index.aspx Ask Art - The Artists' Bluebook]

The Miami Herald

* [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&s_site=miami&p_multi=MH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB35DE2DFC7A5B3&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Interior Landscape]

Desoto Sun Herald

* [http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=robert+butler+artist&sa=N&start=10 SFCC Museum of Fine Arts and Culture]

* The Highwaymen (artists), a group of 20th-century African-American landscape painters from Florida

Further reading

* [http://www.topix.com/forum/city/lakeland-fl/TMBFALT3NDA36JIIS#comments Highwaymen paintings lost in fire]

Video Links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob8nXTI7st8 The Highwaymen Artist Robert Butler]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epE_lsB9o74&feature=related Explosion/Fire Destroys Millions In Highwaymen Paintings]
* [http://www.baynews9.com/VideoPlayer/?Highwaymen_Pkg_218 Highwaymen tradition lives on through next generation]
* [http://blip.tv/file/706129 Video about the Highwaymen] by WMFE-TV's
* [http://www2.tbo.com/static/photo_gallery/tbocom-photo-galllery-father-and-artist/ Portrait Of a Father And Artist-Tampa Tribune Father's Day Article] at [http://www.tbo.com/ Tampa Bay Online] The Arts Connection-Arts & Culture in Central Florida
Orlando,Florida

External links