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.

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.

Location

537 West 20th Street 2nd Floor New York

Dates

February 22—April 13, 2024

Opening Reception

Thursday, February 22, 6–8 PM

Gallery Hours

Tues—Sat 10am–6pm

Artist

Bill Traylor

Bill Traylor: Works from The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation

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

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.

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

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)

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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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