Fort Pierce - Thursday September 14, 2023: The A.E. Backus Museum & Gallery is offering the public a chance to win a work of art, valued at $10,000, by the internationally-renowned marine wildlife artist and conservationist Guy Harvey.
The painting, titled Blanco Solo, is acrylic on canvas and measures 30” x 40” inches. It features the artist's signature subject, an Atlantic White Marlin cruising through a seascape of crystal clear ocean with a splash of sargassum. The composition of the work gives a hint of the surface world above in the scattered glints of sunlight, but it is the expansive, cool blues that hint at the depths below, where the sleek and majestic marlin reigns supreme.
Only 3,000 tickets will be available. All proceeds will help support the Museum and its work in the community. Visit www.BackusMuseum.org/raffle to purchase tickets online.
Tickets are available for donations of $25 each, or $60 for three, or $100 for six chances to win. The winning tickets will be announced at 12:30 pm on Sunday, March 3, 2024 at the A.E. Backus Museum & Gallery on N. Indian River Drive in Fort Pierce. You need not be present to win; the winner will be contacted. Click here to read the complete rules online. They are also on display at the Museum.
The Backus Museum is grateful to Guy Harvey for his generous assistance in making this painting available for our 2024 art raffle.
About the Artist
Guy Harvey is a unique blend of artist, scientist, diver, angler, conservationist and explorer, fiercely devoted to his family and his love of the sea. Growing up in Jamaica, he spent many hours fishing and diving with his father along the Island's south coast. He was obsessed with the creatures of the sea and began drawing pictures of the many different fish he observed. By 1988 he had fully transitioned from his advanced studies in marine biology to his deep dive into painting full time.
Dr. Harvey has traveled the world to gain more knowledge of the habits and activities of marine wildlife. He became an avid scuba diver and skilled underwater photographer. He pioneered a technique of diving and photographing free-swimming billfish. His personal observations made during these diving expeditions have better enabled him to capture the detail in his paintings that contributes to the popularity of his work.
A passion for the beauty and wonder of the underwater world has driven Dr. Harvey to be a leading conservationist and advocate for the protection of our environment. He dedicates much of his talent, time and resources to programs that protect our oceans, fish population and reef systems. The Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University and The Guy Harvey Foundation have taken on a leadership role in providing the scientific information necessary to understand and protect the world’s fish resources and biodiversity from continued decline.
Many today still remember the altruism of A.E. "Bean" Backus, and how he used his paintings to help local nonprofits in their work helping others. For many years the Museum continued a version of this tradition as a favorite fundraiser for our own work in the community. Today, we expand on this spirit to support the Backus Museum with the help and work of other master artists of Florida Art.
