Roy McLendon
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Roy McLendon
(1932−)
Florida Beachscape
Oil on Upson board, undated
H: 27 ¼” W: 39 ½”
Acquired in 2005
Roy McLendon was born in Pelham, Georgia, the son of migrant farm workers. He later moved to Gifford, Florida, where he was drawn to art by watching neighbor Harold Newton as he painted outside his house. One of the earliest of the Highwaymen, McLendon inspired many other young artists in the area.
He has one of the widest ranges of subject matter among the Highwaymen and has painted still lifes, figures, cabins, and animals. Some of his paintings are vignettes of everyday life in rural coastal Florida, such as women washing laundry outside or people fishing. Like all of the Highwaymen, he is also a prolific painter of landscapes and is recognized for the way he paints the subtle changes in light as it plays on different textures.
