MEDIA CONTACT:  Linda Holtz

561-297-0159, lholtz@fau.edu

FAU’s Backus Paintings to be on Display at Backus Museum

Exhibition Pays Tribute to Artist’s Career and Life

            BOCA RATON, FL (February 22, 2006) –  The Florida Atlantic University Foundation’s collection of 65 oil paintings by the Floridian artist A.E. “Beanie” Backus will be on loan to the A.E. Backus Gallery & Museum, 500 North Indian River Drive, Fort Pierce, as part the Gallery & Museum’s tribute to Backus on the centennial anniversary of his birth.  In addition to FAU’s collection, the exhibit will include other Backus originals in oil, watercolor and graphite, as well as items from his home and studio. An opening reception will be held at the Gallery & Museum on Friday, March 3, from 7 to 9 p.m.

            Backus, who died in 1990 at the age of 84, has long been recognized as Florida’s preeminent landscape painter.  His works capture the natural beauty of a vanishing Florida.  The University’s collection of Backus paintings came to FAU through a bequest from Thomas F. Fleming, whose efforts were instrumental in the establishment of the University in 1961.

            For more information on the exhibit, contact the A.E. Backus Gallery & Museum at 772-465-0630 or visit www.backusgallery.com.

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