Tropical Light: The Art of A. E. Backus

by Natasha Kuzmanovic (contributor)

Painter A. E. Backus (1906–1990) portrayed an unspoiled Florida that has made his paintings synonymous with the backcountry terrain is often described as “Backus landscape,” emotive clouds as “Backus sky,” and translucent waves as “Backus water.” As more and more of the state’s wilderness is lost to development, Backus’s paintings emerge as poetic testaments of Florida’s lost paradise. Defining his artistic roots as “part Cracker and part Monet,” Backus was drawn to tropical nature as defined by light, which he rendered using complementary colors. His avant-garde use of a palette knife to create entire compositions produced paintings that combined a sensitive observation of nature with gestural paint application. Backus excelled at capturing the essence of traditional rustic fishing camps, magnificent beaches, tidal rivers fringed with palms and mangroves, and the abrupt changes in the weather that characterize Florida’s tropical light to both natives and visitors. This is a lush celebration of the life and work of a remarkable regional painter.

300 pages, Hardcover

Published November 22, 2016

Reviews

[Tom Oman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love the way this guy makes the tropics seem dark, mysterious and foreboding.

[Miro Colcha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly written, this monograph will endear you to the artist A. E. Backus in the ways his humanism, humor, and stunning depictions of Florida have touched so many. Florida’s beauty lives on because of him, whose love of his home is embedded in every stroke of his palette knife.