Lively Times and Exciting Events: The Drawings of Bill Traylor

Traylor, Bill

ISBN 10: 0892800321 / ISBN 13: 9780892800322

Published by Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 1993

About this Item

1993 Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts (Montgomery, Alabama), 8 1/4 x 8 inches tall paperbound, copiously illustrated with black-and-white and color reproductions of artwork, [40] pp. A near fine copy - clean, bright and unmarked. ~TT~ [1.0P] An exhibition catalog, with essays by Andrea Potochick and Eileen Knott. William Traylor (c.?1853-1949) was an African-American self-taught artist from Lowndes County, Alabama. Born into slavery, Traylor spent the majority of his life after emancipation as a sharecropper. It was only after 1939, following his move to Montgomery, Alabama, that Traylor began to draw. At the age of 85, he took up a pencil and a scrap of cardboard to document his recollections and observations. From 1939 to 1942, while working on the sidewalks of Montgomery, he produced nearly 1,500 pieces of art. While Traylor received his first public exhibition in 1940, it was not until 30 years after his death that his work finally began to receive broader attention, in the late 1970s. Recent acceptance of Traylor as a significant figure of American folk and modern art has been founded on the efforts of Charles Shannon, as well as the evolving tastes of the art world. Shannon, who first encountered Traylor's work in 1940, brought Traylor to the attention of the larger art world. Traylor now holds a central position in the fields of 'self-taught' and modern art.

Seller Inventory # TT-1142-14702

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Lively Times and Exciting Events: The Drawings of Bill Traylor
• Publisher: Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
• Publication Date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0892800321
• ISBN 13: 9780892800322
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 16 ounces

About this title

Synopsis

An exhibition catalog, with essays by Andrea Potochick and Eileen Knott. William Traylor (c. 1853-1949) was an African-American self-taught artist from Lowndes County, Alabama. Born into slavery, Traylor spent the majority of his life after emancipation as a sharecropper. It was only after 1939, following his move to Montgomery, Alabama, that Traylor began to draw. At the age of 85, he took up a pencil and a scrap of cardboard to document his recollections and observations. From 1939 to 1942, while working on the sidewalks of Montgomery, he produced nearly 1,500 pieces of art. While Traylor received his first public exhibition in 1940, it was not until 30 years after his death that his work finally began to receive broader attention, in the late 1970s. Recent acceptance of Traylor as a significant figure of American folk and modern art has been founded on the efforts of Charles Shannon, as well as the evolving tastes of the art world. Shannon, who first encountered Traylor's work in 1940, brought Traylor to the attention of the larger art world. Traylor now holds a central position in the fields of 'self-taught' and modern art.