James Hutchinson, Alligator Catcher, oil on canvas, 24.5 by 35.5 inches, signed lower right, titled verso.
James Hutchinson is one of Florida most creative living artists. As a young boy he moved with his family to Stuart, Florida, where he grew up on the north fork of the St. Lucie River. After a tour with the U.S. Navy, in the 1950’s, Hutchinson studied art with his brother-in-law, famed Florida artist, A. E. Backus. He received an Arthur Vining Davis Foundation grant to study and paint the history of the Seminole and Miccosukee Indians. In the tradition of George Catlin. Hutchinson spent four years in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s living with the Seminoles in their Everglades camps. Here he painted brilliant portraits of these native Floridians and scenes of everyday life.
James Hutchinson, oil on board, 15 by 30 inches, signed lower left.
The Palm Beach Post, March 19, 1967, noted Hutchinson and his wife Joan working with the Seminoles. “Dusk was descending, a five-star fire was smoldering in the center of the darkened camp, a man and a woman were storing canvases and paints for the night as from far away came a solitary cry of a night bird to the chorus of nocturnal animal noise. Another day in a six-year project was ended for Joan and Jim Hutchison as they lived among the Seminole Indians on Brighton Reservation painting and mentally recording the quickly disappearing life of the Indian.
James Hutchinson, oil on board, 14 by 19 inches, signed lower right.
The Hutchinsons became friendly with the Indians and Jim was able to paint some of them such as a traditionally dressed Indian man, Charlie Cypress, who was the last of the great canoe builders; Billy Bowlegs III, a direct descendant of famous Chieftain Billy I; and Lucy Pierce, the sister of Billy III. Jim has done 200 Indian paintings, of which 35 are left. He said he has enough notes and mental pictures to keep him painting for years.”
The Hutchinsons later moved to Hawaii and lived there for eighteen years before returning to Florida in 2012 to be near their sons. Hutchinson was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2011.
Born: 1931. Education: With his brother-in-law, A. E. Backus. Exhibits: Soroptimist Club, 2nd Annual Outdoor Exhibit, at Community Art Center, February 22, 1954; National Art Week, St. Lucie County Public Library, March 1954, sponsored by Fort Pierce Woman’s Club Art Department; St. Lucie County Public library, for National Art Week, November 1954; Edenlawn Plantation, Fort Pierce 2nd Annual, Thanksgiving Day, November 1954; Lowe Art Gallery, University of Miami: Florida Pavilion, New York World’s Fair, 1965; Berlin Festival, Berlin, Germany, 1966; Manatee Yacht Club Restaurant, Stuart, Florida, March 1965; First National Bank and Trust Company of Stuart, April-May 1977, joint exhibit with Beanie Backus; Flagler Museum, Palm Beach; Robinson Galleries, Miami; Seminole Indian Reservation, Dania Reservation Headquarters; Ocean Club, Palm Beach; Elliott Museum, Stuart; Bath Club, Miami Beach. One man shows: Florida State Museum, Gainesville, 1st one man show in history of the Museum; Florida Museum of Natural History, Tallahassee.
