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Bill Traylor

Bill Traylor was born into slavery in 1853 in Alabama and began to draw in his later life around 1939. His work gained recognition 30 years after his death. 

His paintings depict his observations of every day life in the rural South and are characterized by simple, figurative, sometimes abstract forms and flat bold coloring over paper or scraps of cardboard. Traylor's depictions of running animals and crisp figures in motion, have drawn the public's desire and attention. 

Alana Shilling from The Brooklyn Rail warned against viewing Traylor's pieces exclusively in terms of their aesthetic value. "To discount" his personal struggles "is to ignore what makes Traylor not only a noteworthy artist, but also an eloquent annalist of a nation’s history: its brutality."

 

(1) “Red Man,” circa 1939–42. Photograph by Matt Flynn / Courtesy Smithsonian American Art Museum (2) “Untitled (Man Carrying Dog on Object),” circa 1939–42. Photograph by Mike Jensen / Courtesy Smithsonian American Art Museum (3) “Man and Large Dog (Verso: Man and Woman),” circa 1939–42.Photograph by Matt Flynn / Courtesy Smithsonian American Art Museum (4)  Traylor’s “Man with Yoke,” circa 1939-42.Photograph by Bonnie H. Morrison / Courtesy Smithsonian American Art Museum