The folk art of Bill Traylor

Born into slavery around 1853 in rural Alabama, Bill Traylor worked as a sharecropper for nearly five decades after the Civil War and Emancipation. But in his 80s, without work and homeless in Montgomery, he took a new path, as an artist. Painting on scraps of paper or cardboard, Traylor's folk art told the story of African Americans in the Jim Crow era. His work is featured in an exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., "Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor."

Pictured: Bill Traylor, "Man in Black and Blue with Cigar and Suitcase," c. 1939-1942. Pencil and poster paint on cardboard. Collection of Jerry and Susan Lauren © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust.

Bill Traylor

Bill Traylor as he appeared in the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser on March 31, 1940, following his first show hosted by the New South Gallery. Around the age of 86, when most people have slowed down, Traylor – unable to write anything other than his name – began to paint and draw. 

"Red House with Figures"

Being self-taught, Traylor depicted flat, simplified forms, none as straightforward as they seem at first glance. 

Pictured: Bill Traylor, "Red House with Figures," 1939. Poster paint, colored pencil, and pencil on cardboard. Collection of Judy A. Saslow.

"Self-Portrait"

Bill Traylor, "Self-Portrait," c. 1939-1940. Gouache and pencil on cardboard. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Promised Gift of Charles E. and Eugenia C. Shannon © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust. 

"Man and Large Dog"

Bill Traylor, "Man and Large Dog," c. 1939-1942. Poster paint and pencil on cardboard. Collection of Jerry and Susan Lauren © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust.

"Dogs are recurring characters in Traylor's work," said Smithsonian curator Leslie Umberger. "Sometimes they're very little and they're very sweet, and other times they're this big, hulking, scary animal. What I think is going on here is maybe this metaphor for slavery, or disempowerment in general, the black population kind of always being held in bondage by social agency and wealth."

"Blacksmith Shop"

Bill Traylor, "Blacksmith Shop," c. 1939-1940. Pencil on cardboard. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Eugenia and Charles Shannon © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust. 

"Black Turkey"

Bill Traylor, "Black Turkey," c. 1939-1942. Poster paint and pencil on cardboard. The Lucas Kaempfer Foundation © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust. 

"Brown Pig"

Bill Traylor, "Untitled (Brown Pig)," 1940. Pencil and opaque watercolor on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson

"Figure Construction"

Bill Traylor, "Figure Construction (Woman and Man with Axe)," c. 1939-1942. Gouache and pencil on cardboard. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Gift of Charles and Eugenia Shannon. 

"Man Carrying Dog on Object"

Bill Traylor, "Untitled (Man Carrying Dog on Object)," c. 1939-1942. Poster paint and graphite on cardboard. High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchase with funds from Mrs. Lindsey Hopkins, Jr., Edith G. and Philip A. Rhodes, and the Members Guild © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust.

CBS News correspondent Chip Reid asked curator Leslie Umberger, "What do you say to people who say, 'It looks so simplistic, it looks like a child could do it'?"

"His forms are arguably simple, but that's also the power of the work," she replied. "He's putting down what he needs to, and not very often more than that. He's coming up with his symbolisms and his ways of distilling the very complicated things around him in a way that's personal and unique, but absolutely innovative, and his." 

"Yellow and Blue House with Figures and Dog"

Bill Traylor, "Untitled (Yellow and Blue House with Figures and Dog)," July 1939. Pencil and colored pencil on paperboard. Smithsonian American Art Museum; Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust. 

"Man, Woman, and Dog"

Bill Traylor, "Untitled (Man, Woman, and Dog)," 1939. Crayon and pencil on paperboard. Smithsonian American Art Museum; Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust.

"Untitled"

Bill Traylor, "Untitled," c. 1939-1942. Collection of Jan Petry and Angie Mills. 

"Mean Dog"

Bill Traylor, "Mean Dog," c. 1939-1942. Poster paint and pencil on cardboard. Collection of Jerry and Susan Lauren © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust.

"Radio"

Bill Traylor, "Untitled (Radio)," c. 1940-1942. Opaque watercolor and pencil on printed advertising paperboard. Smithsonian American Art Museum; Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust. 

"Truncated Blue Man with Pipe"

Bill Traylor, "Truncated Blue Man with Pipe," c. 1939-1942. Poster paint and pencil on cardboard. Louis-Dreyfus Family Collection © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust.

"Rabbit"

Bill Traylor, "Rabbit," c. 1940-1942. Watercolor and graphite on cardboard. Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama, Gift of Charles and Eugenia Shannon © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust.

Artist at Work

Bill Traylor painting on Monroe Street, Montgomery, Ala., as photographed by Jean and George Lewis in 1940. 

"Seated Woman"

Bill Traylor, "Untitled (Seated Woman)," c. 1940-1942. Pencil and opaque watercolor on paperboard. Smithsonian American Art Museum; The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust. 

"Chase Scene"

Bill Traylor, "Untitled (Chase Scene)," c. 1940. Pencil and opaque watercolor on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Micki Beth Stiller.

"Legs Construction with Blue Man"

Bill Traylor, "Untitled (Legs Construction with Blue Man)," c. 1940-1942. Opaque watercolor, pencil, and charcoal on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment.

"Red Goat with Snake"

Bill Traylor, "Untitled (Red Goat with Snake)," c. 1940-1942. Opaque watercolor and pencil on paperboard. Smithsonian American Art Museum; Gift of Judy A. Saslow © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust. 

"Woman, Blue Gloves, Brown Skirt"

Bill Traylor, "Woman, Blue Gloves, Brown Skirt."

"Between Worlds"

"Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor" is at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. through April 7, 2019. 

For more info: 

Exhibition Catalogue: "Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor" by Leslie Umberger (Princeton University Press), in Hardcover format, available via Amazon
Bill Traylor (artnet.com)

By CBS News.com senior producer David Morgan