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Why Is Bill Traylor’s Artwork So Expensive?

Why Is Bill Traylor’s Artwork So Expensive?

In January 2020, Bill Traylor upended the art world with record prices for his drawings. This by itself isn’t strange. Artists often reach new heights during auctions, and their lives change forever. 

But Bill Traylor is unique amongst the art elite. And it’s not just because the pieces on the auction block don’t look like anything else. The reasons his artwork is so expensive may surprise you. 

Join us as we discover who this artist was and why his art has hefty price tags.

Let’s check it out!

Who Was Bill Traylor?

The story of Bill Traylor mirrors the story of America. Born in 1853 as an enslaved person on the Traylor plantation in Dallas County, Alabama, his life straddles two centuries of change. Afraid of the impact the Emancipation Proclamation might have, the Traylor family moved young Bill to another plantation in Lowndes County. Two years later, in 1865, Bill and his family became laborers on Traylor land, free in name only. 

Bill married three times and fathered fifteen children while working on the Traylor farm. It took until 1910 for Bill and his third wife, Laura, to leave the land for good. 

At that point, as tenant farmers, Bill’s children started leaving as the Great Migration enticed Black Americans north. When Laura died in the 1920s, Bill’s life as a farmer ended, and he lived on the outskirts of Montgomery, Alabama, for the rest of his life. He passed away in 1949 at the age of 85.

By the facts, Bill’s life seems unremarkable, except for one thing. Around 1939, ten years before his death, he began creating small drawings and paintings on pieces of cardboard. With a unique and powerful perspective, Traylor’s art resonated with a public coming to terms with the legacy of slavery. 

Through simple images, stories of racial violence, lynching, and Jim Crow-era injustices poured out. Between 1939 and 1942, he created over one thousand drawings and paintings. His perspective is singular. No other artist depicted the period in American history from Emancipation to the Civil Rights era. 

Where Did Bill Traylor Find Inspiration?

After a lifetime in the rural South, Traylor’s inspiration came from the people and places around him. His art took on an almost pictograph style, with simple images but having a deeper meaning. And while his drawings did focus on the injustices and atrocities visited on Black Southerners, that wasn’t the only focus. 

He also explored the positive sides of life in the South and chronicled what life was like. Family, community, and the people in his life frequently appear in his art. 

What Mediums Did Bill Traylor Work With?

Traylor lived in abject poverty for much of his life. When he began making art in the 1930s, he used the things he found around him. Discarded cardboard, pencil, watercolor, and paint were his most common mediums. 

Sadly, because of the impermanence of his medium, most of the work he created while living with his daughter didn’t survive. The art that we have is primarily from 1939 to 1942. 

Art by Bill Traylor

What Are Some of Bill Traylor’s Art Pieces?

Even though he created over 1,000 pieces during his productive period, a few pieces stick out. Almost all of his paintings were untitled, so we’re using the names applied by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which describes the images. 

Yellow and Blue House

This piece, painted in 1939, depicts life on the farm. It’s unclear if this is a recollection from his plantation days, but the addition of a butler character suggests servitude. 

Three men appear in the picture, one seated outside with a rifle, pipe, and dog, one indoors in a rocking chair, and another outdoors in a butler’s uniform. The yellow house is large, with two chimneys and a ladder to the roof. A dog and a crow are the only other figures in the drawing.

Woman With Umbrella and Man on Crutch

Also from 1939, this piece depicts a fascinating story. A woman stands, incredulous, on the left side of the drawing staring at a one-legged man. Either from a hard life or the Civil War or World War 1, the man is missing a leg. He gestures widely and seems to be mid-story, one that catches the woman off guard. 

Traylor creates a sense of balance here by giving the woman an umbrella and the man a crutch. The artist’s lack of shading provides a silhouette quality to this and most of his other work. 

Where Is Bill Traylor’s Art Displayed?

Primarily due to his status as an early American example of Outsider Art, Traylor’s artwork is in several museums. But much of his work is accessible to everyone through online archives. However, if you want to check out his art in person, we’ve got some great options. 

High Museum 

In Atlanta, Georgia, the High Museum of Art houses over 18,000 works of American art. They have an extensive collection of work created by self-taught artists, especially from the American South. In their gallery, they hold over 70 works by Traylor. You can visit Google exhibitions and see pieces in their permanent collection anytime. 

They’re open for visits weekly Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $16.50, and children under six get in for free. 

Whitney Museum of American Art

Heralded as one of the great American museums, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City is a bucket list spot for us. With a massive collection of twentieth and twenty-first-century American art, they keep rotating exhibits from their permanent collection year-round. They’ve acquired a few of Traylor’s pieces, but their galleries are worth the trip just to see the rest of their collection. 

They’re open Wednesday through Monday, with late evening hours on Friday. Admission is $25 for adults, $18 for students, and free for kids eighteen and under. 

The Bill Traylor Documentary

Documentary filmmaker Jeffrey Wolf produced and directed the film Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts in 2021 after falling in love with Traylor’s art in 1982. The film explores Traylor’s life and art with interviews and performances from modern luminaries. 

Highlighting the artist’s unique contribution to American art, the film includes music, tap dance, dramatic readings, and special access to draw viewers in. This critically acclaimed film is available on DVD. 

The Growing Appreciation for Bill Traylor’s Art

In January 2020, Traylor’s art reached new heights when appraisers discovered something new. They found a second fully realized piece on the back of another work entitled Man on White, Woman on Red. Man with Black Dog, the artwork on the back, was unknown before appraisers removed it from its frame for auction. 

In the 1970s, after an interrupted period of discovery in the 1940s by New South curator Charles Shannon, prices for Traylor pieces climbed. But before January 2020, Traylor’s art never rose above $40,000 at auction. Because of the unique quality of the artwork up for auction, and a few well-timed shows, Man with Black Dog sold for $507,000. 

Traylor’s work provides modern audiences with a view into the time and place he lived. As the only existing artist of color from the period between the Civil War and early Civil Rights era, his work is essential and gaining steam. 

Simple Yet Meaningful Art 

With one foot in the Antebellum South and one foot in the twentieth century, self-taught artist Bill Traylor is unique. As the only Black artist from that time period with existing work, he gives us a window into the past. And in a social climate that slowly digs up the past and reckons with it, Traylor’s voice is integral to understanding that past. 

Art collectors clearly understand his importance in American art, and we believe the hype. 

What surprised you the most about Bill Traylor’s art? Let us know in the comments below.

Outside Folk Gallery

You can explore folk, street, and outsider art in our personal collection at Outside Folk Art. We’re celebrating these creatives and giving voice to rising black, Native, immigrant, and working mother artisans. 

We’ll also be offering pop-up shows and collaborations with small museums, so be sure to follow us to discover the where and when!

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