An artwork by Bill Traylor, titled Man Wearing Maroon and Blue with Bottle, dated 1939-1942
An artwork by Bill Traylor, titled Man Wearing Maroon and Blue with Bottle, dated 1939-1942

Bill Traylor: Works from The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation

 

David Zwirner is pleased to present an exhibition of works by Bill Traylor (c. 1853–1949) at the gallery’s 537 West 20th Street location in New York. Marking Traylor’s second solo exhibition with the gallery, this presentation is organized in collaboration with The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation and is composed of works from the Foundation collection. As part of the Foundation’s broader philanthropic mission, proceeds from the sales of works in the exhibition will benefit Harlem Children’s Zone.

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Image: Bill Traylor, Man Wearing Maroon and Blue with Bottle, 1939-1942 (detail)
All Bill Traylor artwork is used with permission from Bill Traylor Family, Inc.

Dates
February 22April 13, 2024
Opening Reception
Thursday, February 22, 6–8 PM
Gallery Hours
Tues—Sat 10am–6pm
Artist
Bill Traylor
An Installation View, Bill Traylor: Works from The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation, David Zwirner, New York, dated 2024

Installation View, Bill Traylor: Works from The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation, David Zwirner, New York, 2024

Installation View, Bill Traylor: Works from The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation, David Zwirner, New York, 2024

An Installation View, Bill Traylor: Works from The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation, David Zwirner, New York, dated 2024

Born enslaved, Traylor spent much of his life after the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation working as a farm laborer in rural Alabama and, later, as a shoemaker and factory worker in Montgomery. In 1939, at the age of approximately eighty-five, having never previously trained or studied art in any formal way, Traylor began making drawings and works on paper using gouache and other media. Though he continued to make art for the remainder of his life, Traylor was most prolific between 1939 and 1942, creating a body of work that offers a unique and rich registry of his life, experience, and insights. 

A photograph of Bill Traylor, taken by Horace Perry, Courtesy Alabama State Council on the Arts

Bill Traylor, Photograph by Horace Perry, Courtesy Alabama State Council on the Arts

Bill Traylor, Photograph by Horace Perry, Courtesy Alabama State Council on the Arts

“One day Traylor picked up a stub of pencil and a scrap of cardboard and began to draw.… He produced hundreds of drawings and paintings that rank among the greatest works of the twentieth century.”

—Roberta Smith, The New York Times

A work on paper by Bill Traylor, titled One-Legged Man with Crutch and Cane, circa 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

One-Legged Man with Crutch and Cane, c. 1939-1942
Poster paint and pencil on cardboard
13 x 7 inches (33 x 17.8 cm)
Framed: 19 1/2 x 13 3/8 inches (49.5 x 34 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Man Wearing Maroon and Blue with Bottle, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Man Wearing Maroon and Blue with Bottle, 1939-1942
Poster paint and pencil on cardboard
15 3/8 x 8 1/8 inches (39 x 20.6 cm)
Framed: 22 x 14 5/8 inches (55.9 x 37.1 cm)

The works on view in this exhibition will loosely focus on three general themes that are central to the self-taught American artist’s oeuvre: animals, figures, and dynamic narrative scenes, which have become classified within Traylor’s body of work as “exciting events.” Rendered in pencil and black charcoal as well as in poster paints that range in color from burnt sienna reds to rich lapis blues, Traylor’s distinctive imagery mixes subjects and iconography from the American South with a strong formalist treatment of color, shape, and surface. 

An artwrok by Bill Traylor, titled Blue Dog, dated 1939-1942

Bill Traylor, Blue Dog, 1939-1942 (detail)

Bill Traylor, Blue Dog, 1939-1942 (detail)

“Bill Traylor produced a body of work which is as American and as important to America’s artistic contribution as are the scrupulously exquisite watercolors of Winslow Homer or the structured paint drippings of Jackson Pollock.”

—William Louis-Dreyfus

A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Blue Dog, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Blue Dog, 1939-1942
Poster paint and pencil on cardboard
7 3/4 x 10 inches (19.7 x 25.4 cm)
Framed: 14 1/8 x 16 1/2 inches (35.9 x 41.9 cm)

These compositions abstract and distill the world as Traylor experienced it into evocative displays of daily life that are at times filled with joy and exuberance and at others with tension and terror—visually enlivening an era defined by Jim Crow laws and post-Reconstruction racial violence and inequality.

An artwork by Bill Traylor, People, titled Dog Biting Man, dated 1939-1942

Bill Traylor, Man Wearing Maroon and Blue with Bottle, 1939-1942 (detail)

Bill Traylor, Man Wearing Maroon and Blue with Bottle, 1939-1942 (detail)

“Bill Traylor’s brilliant but meteoric artistic moment is unprecedented.… The real adventure of finding meaning in Bill Traylor’s art is ours alone.”

—Kerry James Marshall

A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled People, Dog Biting Man, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

People, Dog Biting Man, 1939-1942
Pencil and poster paint on cardboard
15 1/2 x 8 inches (39.4 x 20.3 cm)
Framed: 21 x 14 1/2 inches (53.3 x 36.8 cm)

During the last decade of his life, Traylor’s art was featured in a handful of exhibitions in Montgomery and other locations, but it was not until the late 1970s that he began to achieve widespread recognition.

A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Woman with Blue Purse and Umbrella, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Woman with Blue Purse and Umbrella, 1939-1942
Poster paint, pencil, and charcoal on cardboard
16 7/8 x 13 1/2 inches (42.9 x 34.3 cm)
Framed: 23 1/4 x 20 inches (59.1 x 50.8 cm)

Today, Traylor’s works are included in the collections of many notable museums and public institutions including the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; The Menil Collection, Houston; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC; Glenstone, Potomac, Maryland; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, among others.

An Installation View, Bill Traylor: Works from The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation, David Zwirner, New York, dated 2024

Installation View, Bill Traylor: Works from The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation, David Zwirner, New York, 2024

Installation View, Bill Traylor: Works from The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation, David Zwirner, New York, 2024

Inquire About Works by Bill Traylor

All Bill Traylor artwork is used with permission from Bill Traylor Family, Inc.

A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled People, Dog Biting Man, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

People, Dog Biting Man, 1939-1942
Pencil and poster paint on cardboard
15 1/2 x 8 inches (39.4 x 20.3 cm)
Framed: 21 x 14 1/2 inches (53.3 x 36.8 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Man Wearing Maroon and Blue with Bottle, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Man Wearing Maroon and Blue with Bottle, 1939-1942
Poster paint and pencil on cardboard
15 3/8 x 8 1/8 inches (39 x 20.6 cm)
Framed: 22 x 14 5/8 inches (55.9 x 37.1 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Blue Dog, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Blue Dog, 1939-1942
Poster paint and pencil on cardboard
7 3/4 x 10 inches (19.7 x 25.4 cm)
Framed: 14 1/8 x 16 1/2 inches (35.9 x 41.9 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Woman with Blue Purse and Umbrella, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Woman with Blue Purse and Umbrella, 1939-1942
Poster paint, pencil, and charcoal on cardboard
16 7/8 x 13 1/2 inches (42.9 x 34.3 cm)
Framed: 23 1/4 x 20 inches (59.1 x 50.8 cm)
A work on paper by Bill Traylor, titled One-Legged Man with Crutch and Cane, circa 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

One-Legged Man with Crutch and Cane, c. 1939-1942
Poster paint and pencil on cardboard
13 x 7 inches (33 x 17.8 cm)
Framed: 19 1/2 x 13 3/8 inches (49.5 x 34 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Black Dog with Bent Knee and Red Tongue, dated in 1939 and 1942.

Bill Traylor

Black Dog with Bent Knee and Red Tongue, 1939-1942
Poster paint and pencil on cardboard
8 5/8 x 11 3/4 inches (21.9 x 29.9 cm)
Framed: 15 x 18 1/4 inches (38.1 x 46.4 cm)
A mixed media work on cardboard by Bill Traylor, titled Two Fighting Dogs, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Two Fighting Dogs, 1939-1942
Poster paint and pencil on cardboard
18 3/8 x 20 inches (46.7 x 50.8 cm)
Framed: 24 7/8 x 26 1/2 inches (63.2 x 67.3 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Brown Mule, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Brown Mule, 1939-1942
Poster paint and pencil on cardboard
12 1/2 x 15 inches (31.8 x 38.1 cm)
Framed: 19 x 21 5/8 inches (48.3 x 54.9 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Man and Woman Pointing with Dog, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Man and Woman Pointing with Dog, 1939-1942
Colored pencil and pencil on cardboard
22 x 14 inches (55.9 x 35.6 cm)
Framed: 28 5/8 x 20 3/4 inches (72.7 x 52.7 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Snarling Dog, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Snarling Dog, 1939-1942
Pencil on cardboard
10 7/8 x 13 1/2 inches (27.6 x 34.3 cm)
Framed: 17 1/4 x 19 7/8 inches (43.8 x 50.5 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Man with Hat and Cane, circa 1939 to 1940.

Bill Traylor

Man with Hat and Cane, c. 1939-1940
Pencil, colored pencil and charcoal on cardboard
17 1/4 x 10 inches (43.8 x 25.4 cm)
Framed: 23 3/4 x 16 1/2 inches (60.3 x 41.9 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Woman Milking Cow, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Woman Milking Cow, 1939-1942
Pencil, charcoal and poster paint on cardboard
11 1/2 x 15 3/8 inches (29.2 x 39 cm)
Framed: 18 5/8 x 21 7/8 inches (47.3 x 55.6 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Woman in Spotted Blouse with Mittens and Umbrella, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Woman in Spotted Blouse with Mittens and Umbrella, 1939-1942
Poster paint and pencil on cardboard
13 1/4 x 11 3/8 inches (33.7 x 28.9 cm)
Framed: 19 5/8 x 17 7/8 inches (49.9 x 45.4 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Dog Bites Man on Black Construction with Figures, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Dog Bites Man on Black Construction with Figures, 1939-1942
Poster paint and pencil on cardboard
10 1/8 x 7 7/8 inches (25.7 x 20 cm)
Framed: 16 5/8 x 14 1/4 inches (42.2 x 36.2 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Half of Green Man with Dog, Plant and Figures, circa 1939 to 1940.

Bill Traylor

Half Green man with Dog, Plant and Figures, c. 1939-1940
Pencil and colored pencil on cardboard
14 x 11 inches (35.6 x 27.9 cm)
Framed: 20 3/8 x 17 1/2 inches (51.8 x 44.5 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Brown Cat with Geometric Front Legs, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Brown Cat with Geometric Front Legs, 1939-1942
Poster paint and charcoal on cardboard
7 3/8 x 13 1/2 inches (18.7 x 34.3 cm)
Framed: 13 7/8 x 20 inches (35.2 x 50.8 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Basket with Plant Form, circa 1939 to 1940.

Bill Traylor

Basket with Plant Form, c. 1939-1940
Pencil and colored pencil on cardboard
16 1/8 x 11 1/8 inches (41 x 28.3 cm)
Framed: 22 5/8 x 17 1/2 inches (57.5 x 44.5 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Man with Blue Cap and Cigarette, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Man with Blue Cap and Cigarette, 1939- 1942
Poster paint and pencil on cardboard
11 x 6 5/8 inches (27.9 x 16.8 cm)
Framed: 17 1/2 x 13 1/4 inches (44.5 x 33.7 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Man Kicking Woman, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Man Kicking Woman, 1939-1942
Pencil and colored pencil on cardboard
11 x 14 3/8 inches (27.9 x 36.5 cm)
Framed: 17 1/2 x 20 3/4 inches (44.5 x 52.7 cm)
A drawing by Bill Traylor, titled Blue Goat, 1939 to 1942.

Bill Traylor

Blue Goat, 1939-1942
Pencil and poster paint on cardboard
12 1/8 x 18 1/8 inches (30.8 x 46 cm)
Framed: 18 3/4 x 24 3/4 inches (47.6 x 62.9 cm)

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