Bill Traylor

Not just one of the most recognized self-taught artists in America, Bill Traylor (1854–1949) is one of the finest artists of the 20th century, period. His drawings on cardboard are characterized by a figurative style in which simple flat shapes in bold colors float against blank backgrounds to convey sharp observations of African-American life in the Jim Crow South. (Traylor himself was born into slavery in Alabama, and, except for a brief sojourn up North during World War II, remained there for his entire life.) What is uncanny about Traylor's work, however, is how instinctively modern it is. This show presents 63 drawings from the collections of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery, AL.