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Davis & Langdale Company, Inc.
New York
Home
Artworks
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Exhibitions
Bill Traylor
(
American
, 1854–1947)
Bill Traylor
Man Seated Smoking,
ca. 1939–1942
Not for Sale
Biography
Timeline
Exhibitions
Timeline
1854
Born in slavery at George Hartwell Traylor’s plantation, Benton, Alabama.
Traylor remained on the plantation until the age of 82 when it was sold.
1935
Moved to Montgomery, AL and work briefly in a shoe factory.
1936 - 1941
Left the shoe factory and begun to draw on the sidewalks of Montgomery.
Traylor typically worked on discarded pieces of cardboard in pencil, crayon, and tempura.
Met Charles Shannon, an Alabama painter. Shannon promoted Traylor’s work and encouraged him to continue painting.
1942
Traylor moved north to live with his daughter where his left leg amputated due to gangrene. Traylor stop produced drawings until after the end of WWII, at which point his skills have deteriorated.
1949
Died in Montgomery, AL
Exhibitions
1997
Bill Traylor, Ricco Maresca Gallery, NY
High Singing Blue, Hirschl & Adler Modern New York, NY
High Singing Blue, Carl Hammer Gallery Chicago, IL
1996
Self-Taught: The Last 100 Years, Guston, Basquait, John McEnroe Gallery New York, NY
1995
A World of Their Own, Twentieth-Century American Folk Art, The Newark Museum Newark, NJ
Dust Tracks on a Road, Four Southern Artist, High Museum of Art Atlanta, GA
Pictures from the Bill Traylor Family Trust and Others, Hirschl & Adler Modern New York, NY
Lively Times & Exciting Events: The Drawings of Bill Traylor, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Montgomery, AL
Lively Times & Exciting Events: The Drawings of Bill Traylor, Madison-Morgan Cultural Center Madison, GA
Lively Times & Exciting Events: The Drawings of Bill Traylor, The Cummer Gallery of Art Jacksonville, FL
Lively Times & Exciting Events: The Drawings of Bill Traylor, El Paso Museum of Art El Paso,TX
Passionate Visions of the South: Self Taught Artists from 1940 to the Present, North Carolina Museum of Art Raleigh, NC
Passionate Visions of the South: Self Taught Artists from 1940 to the Present, Corcoran Gallery of Art Washington, DC
Passionate Visions of the South: Self Taught Artists from 1940 to the Present, University of California Berkely, CA
Passionate Visions of the South: Self Taught Artists from 1940 to the Present, University Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Passionate Visions of the South: Self Taught Artists from 1940 to the Present, New Orleans Museum of Art New Orleans, LA
1994 - 1995
Passionate Visions of the South: Self Taught Artists from 1940 to the Present, , San Diego Museum of Art San Diego, CA
1994
Bill Traylor, Davis & Langdale Company, Inc. New York
1993
Bill Traylor, Freedman Gallery,Albright College Reading, PA
1992
Bill Traylor, Hirschl & Adler Modern New York, NY
Traylor/Shannon, Charles Shannon, Carl Hammer Gallery Chicago, IL
1991
Bill Traylor, Ricco/Maresca New York, NY
1941
, , Fieldston School New York, NY
1940
(1st Exhibition of Traylor's drawing), New South Art Center Montgomery, AL
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