Bill Traylor

(American, 1854–1947)

Bill Traylor was an American painter and one of the most celebrated Outsider artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. With his unique figurative style, Traylor depicted a lost era of the rural agrarian Southern United States and African-American life. He was born into slavery and developed outside of any artistic training, with the exception of the encouragement of a young artist named Charles Shannon, who provided Traylor with materials. Traylor’s works use a pictograph-like lexicon of symbols to tell open-ended stories replete with animals, plants, and people that are prized today for their innovative aesthetic form and documentation of oppression in the Deep South. Born in April of 1853 in Benton, AL, Traylor spent most of his life as an emancipated sharecropper before moving to the city of Montgomery in Alabama in the late 1930s, where he began drawing and painting scenes culled from his memories. He died on October 23, 1949 in Montgomery, AL. Today, the artist's works are held in the collections of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Milwaukee Art Museum, among others.

Bill Traylor News

Artworks Owned by the Late Billionaire William Louis-Dreyfus Highlighted Christie's Somewhat Muted $2 Million Outsider Art Sale

by Eileen Kinsella

Artworks Owned by the Late Billionaire William Louis-Dreyfus Highlighted Christie's Somewhat Muted $2 Million Outsider Art Sale

A Late Billionaire Collector's Foundation Is Selling Off Artworks by Bill Traylor and Others to Benefit a Harlem Children’s Charity

by Sarah Cascone

A Late Billionaire Collector's Foundation Is Selling Off Artworks by Bill Traylor and Others to Benefit a Harlem Children’s Charity

Art Industry News: Long-Lost Francis Bacon ‘Pope’ to Lead Christie’s London Sale + More Must-Read Stories

Art Industry News: Long-Lost Francis Bacon ‘Pope’ to Lead Christie’s London Sale + More Must-Read Stories

Bill Traylor Artworks

Bill Traylor (186 results)

Man with hat and cane

Bill Traylor

Man with hat and cane

Sale Date: January 20, 2012

Auction Closed

Untitled, doctor

Bill Traylor

Untitled, doctor

Sale Date: November 19, 2011

Auction Closed

Three figures on construction, 1939–1942

Bill Traylor

Three figures on construction, 1939–1942

Sale Date: October 25, 2010

Auction Closed

Femme

Bill Traylor

Sale Date: February 12, 2009

Auction Closed

House with people and weathervane

Bill Traylor

House with people and weathervane

Sale Date: October 4, 2008

Auction Closed

Untitled - Chase with brown tape

Bill Traylor

Untitled - Chase with brown tape

Sale Date: January 18, 2008

Auction Closed

Black cow, 1939–1942

Bill Traylor

Black cow, 1939–1942

Sale Date: February 16, 2006

Auction Closed

Fox and man with hatchet: An exciting event

Bill Traylor

Fox and man with hatchet: An exciting event

Sale Date: January 21, 2006

Auction Closed

Man in a blue chair with a pipe

Bill Traylor

Man in a blue chair with a pipe

Sale Date: January 21, 2006

Auction Closed

The leopard and the black bird (on back , 1935–1940

Bill Traylor

The leopard and the black bird (on back , 1935–1940

Sale Date: January 23, 2005

Auction Closed

Drinking men on platform -The exciting event , 1940

Bill Traylor

Drinking men on platform -The exciting event , 1940

Sale Date: January 23, 2005

Auction Closed

Man with checked shirt and cane, 1930

Bill Traylor

Man with checked shirt and cane, 1930

Sale Date: January 23, 2005

Auction Closed

Untitled (Stove form), 1939–1942

Bill Traylor

Untitled (Stove form), 1939–1942

Sale Date: January 16, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled (Red construction), 1939–1942

Bill Traylor

Untitled (Red construction), 1939–1942

Sale Date: January 16, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled (Blackbird with insect), 1939–1942

Bill Traylor

Untitled (Blackbird with insect), 1939–1942

Sale Date: January 16, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled (Great black bull), 1939–1942

Bill Traylor

Untitled (Great black bull), 1939–1942

Sale Date: January 16, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled (Exciting event with drinker), 1939–1942

Bill Traylor

Untitled (Exciting event with drinker), 1939–1942

Sale Date: January 16, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1939–1942

Bill Traylor

Untitled, 1939–1942

Sale Date: January 27, 2003

Auction Closed

Red bird, 1939–1942

Bill Traylor

Red bird, 1939–1942

Sale Date: January 27, 2003

Auction Closed

Untitled (Couple fighting), 1939–1942

Bill Traylor

Untitled (Couple fighting), 1939–1942

Sale Date: January 27, 2003

Auction Closed

Man with black umbrella

Bill Traylor

Man with black umbrella

Sale Date: January 19, 2003

Auction Closed

Woman with dog on green plant..., 1939–1942

Bill Traylor

Woman with dog on green plant..., 1939–1942

Sale Date: January 19, 2003

Auction Closed

Man with moustache and blue trousers

Bill Traylor

Man with moustache and blue trousers

Sale Date: January 19, 2003

Auction Closed

Basket with cat, 1939–1939

Bill Traylor

Basket with cat, 1939–1939

Sale Date: February 20, 2001

Auction Closed

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