{"data":{"id":"4447","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":4447,"topgoose_id":450,"tms_id":4447,"display_name":"Bill Traylor","sort_name":"Traylor Bill","display_date":"1854–1949","begin_date":"1854","end_date":"1949","biography":"\u003cp\u003eBill Traylor was born into slavery on a\nplantation in southern Alabama and after\nthe Civil War remained on the farm as\na sharecropper until approximately 1928,\nwhen he found himself isolated, when,\nas he explained, the “white folks had died\nand [his] children scattered.” He moved\nto nearby Montgomery, spending nights\nsleeping in a funeral parlor and days sitting\noutside the local pool hall in the city’s\nlively black business district. There, at age\neighty-five, he began to sketch on pieces\nof cardboard, creating more than 1,200\ndrawings that depict recollections of his\nBenton years and observations from\nthe streets of Montgomery. The drawings\ncaught the attention of Charles Shannon,\na young white artist who furnished\nTraylor with art supplies and purchased or\nsafeguarded many of the works, giving\nthem descriptive titles.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\nFor Traylor, drawing was a visual form\nof storytelling.\u003cem\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003eIn\u003cem\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e\u003ca href=\"/collection/works/10081\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eMan in Blue House with\nRooster\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e a figure sits on a chair in the\ndoorway of a house with his feet elevated\nagainst the doorframe and head tipped\nback, a cigarette in hand; a rooster stands\nat the crest of the roof. The composition\nis unusual for Traylor. The house, with\nits strong red outline, fills almost two-thirds\nof the page; more commonly, his scenes\nappear to float in a dreamlike world.\nTraylor often depicted scenes of animals\ninteracting with human figures, and the bird\nis a recurring symbol in his work. His\nimages have been understood variously\nas political commentaries on race relations\nin the Jim Crow South, representations\nof African spiritualism passed along\nby slaves, visual manifestations of blues\nmusic, or more personal narratives.\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":false,"collection":true,"ulan_id":null,"wikidata_id":"Q862623","created_at":"2017-08-30T15:40:42.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-04-09T07:04:14.980-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/4447/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/4447/exhibitions"}}}}