Charles Walker
Charles Walker
(1945−2022)
Indian River Sunrise—Spoonbills in Mangrove
Oil on canvas, 2011
H: 29 ½” W: 35 ½”
Acquired from the artist in 2012
Donated by Charles and Gertrude Walker
Charles Walker was born and raised in Fort Pierce. His father took him hunting in the backwoods of Florida, and his mother loved to fish. From these experiences with his parents, Walker developed a life-long love of wildlife. He began drawing as a child and won his first art contest in the ninth grade. Walker attended Lincoln Park Academy, where he met Gertrude, his future wife and the sister of Highwayman Livingston Roberts. Walker differed from the other Highwaymen in subject matter and style. He loved to paint birds, fish, and other animals in a detailed, almost scientific manner. For his wildlife work, Walker brought home leaves and taxidermied fish to study. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was known as a major wildlife artist, a full decade before the Highwaymen were recognized by the art world. Mr. Walker lived with his wife Gertrude and continued to create one or two paintings a month until his death in 2022.
