William Lamb Picknell, Mid-Winter Florida, 1894. Harn Museum of Art, The Florida Art Collection, Gift of Samuel H. and Roberta T. Vickers.

2025 Winter Exhibition

Oh, Florida!
Florida Landscapes From the Harn Museum's Vickers Collection

The Winter exhibition, Oh Florida! Selections from the Samuel H. and Roberta T. Vickers Collection, will be on view from January 21 through April 20, 2025. The exhibition celebrates the beauty and history of Old Florida, which captivated visionary Henry Flagler. Once the nation's last great frontier, Florida was a land of stunning natural beauty that attracted pioneers and tourists alike. The art in this exhibition captures breathtaking landscapes, from pristine beaches and lush wetlands to historic sites like St. Augustine, mirroring Florida’s image in the American imagination as a paradise and place of limitless potential.

Before Henry Flagler’s arrival in the late 19th century, Florida was largely an untamed wilderness, sparsely populated, and considered by many as an inhospitable frontier. Much of the land was dominated by vast swamps, dense forests, and expansive wetlands. Small settlements and agricultural communities were scattered across the State, particularly along rivers and along the coast.

St. Augustine, the oldest continuously occupied European-settled city in the United States, was and remains historically significant for its architecture from the Spanish colonial period. The few established port towns like Jacksonville and Key West, become important for trade, fishing, and wrecking. However, Florida’s overall infrastructure was minimal - roads were crude, railways were almost nonexistent, and access to the State’s interior was challenging.

The art in this exhibition showcases Old Florida’s enchanting environment through the eyes of artists whose works capture a time when Florida’s exotic landscapes were much as Flagler and his contemporaries experienced them..

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