Florida River at Sunrise, signed oil on canvas. An African-Amercan landscape and skyscape painter, Livingston Roberts, as a young man in the 1950s was one of the original members of a Florida group called The HIghwaymen. Roberts, along with other group members, tried to paint his way out of the despair he felt holding jobs in places such as citrus groves and packing houses. Original members were James Gibson, Alfred Hair, Harold Newton and Livingston Roberts. The only female member was MaryAnn Carroll. Their major influence was Albert Backus, a white man often referred to as the Dean of Florida painters who had a fanciful formula involving huge cumulus clouds billowing over the ocean. The Highwaymen created hybrid versions of his style, and their work is sometimes characterized as motel art. Overall size: 25 1/2 x 35 1/2 in. Sight size: 23 x 33 in.