Brief info
The artist Ellis Buckner's personal accounts of his life remain elusive in first-person narratives. Instead, much of the information about this Highwayman painter comes from his brother George Buckner, who was also a Highwayman painter, and his son Ellis Buckner, Jr. This knowledge is documented in the book titled "Florida Landscape Through the Eyes of the Buckner Brothers," published in 2004.
The life of Buckner is portrayed in these narratives, through the perspectives of a brother and a son. These narratives reveal a life that is marked by both tragedy and triumph, a profound belief in God, and a constant endeavor to enhance oneself, both as an artist and as a breadwinner for his family.
Born in 1943 in the historic African American community of Gifford, Fla., located just north of Vero Beach, Buckner's early life was shaped by a community that was distinct from the one that influenced the Highwaymen artists in Fort Pierce, 20 miles to the south. It is said that Buckner's artistic journey began when his brother George gifted him a painting set. At the age of 10, Buckner reportedly sold his first painting, a seascape, for $25. However, unsatisfied with the quality of his initial work, he later returned to the buyer and exchanged it for one of his newer, more refined paintings. The Highwaymen Trail, managed by the city of Fort Pierce and the Florida Humanities Council, highlights this aspect of Buckner's artistic development.
