100 newyork| november25–december8, 2019
The CULTURE PAGES
America Isa Snarling DogBorn into slavery, Bill Traylor
deserves to be exalted alongside art’s
greatest names. By Jerry SaltztheartofBillTr aylor
comestouswiththeghosts
ofslaveships,lynchings,
chaingangs,JimCrow, justice
denied—anAmericannightmare
withoutend.BorninAlabamain
1853,Tr aylorwas9 yearsoldwhen
LincolnsignedtheEmancipation
Proclamationand 12 when
slavery wasabolishedwiththe
13thAmendment.Hebore his
owner’s nameforlifeandresided
for 55 yearsneartheplantation
wherehewasborn;thenhe
moved to nearby Montgomery
County, where he remaineduntil
his death in 1949. In 1927 or
1928, he moved alone to the city
of Montgomery, and in 1929, his
son was killed by police. Ten years
later, when Traylor was 85 and
essentially homeless, he began to
draw and paint on the streets of
Montgomery, and a massive arc
of art as powerful and profound
as any in the 20th century shot
out of him. His drawings and
paintings in ink, pencil, and
gouache were made on found
cardboard, candy-box tops,and
other odds and ends. Today, only
four years of his output remain,
yet we have about 1,200 works.
Some of these masterpieces are
now on view at David Zwirner
at 34 East 69th Street. They
were in the collection of the late
Wall Street billionaire and art
collector William Louis-Dreyfus,
who was struck by three of the
artist’s works at a gallery back
in 1993. “He was incrediblycompetitive, and he immediately
recognized Traylor as a master,”
saysLouis-Dreyfus’s daughter
theactress Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
“Hewasdetermined to grab as
muchofthat work as he could.”
Atonetime, he owned the largest
collection of Traylor’s art. Before
hediedin 2016, William decided
tousehis collection to help the
nonprofit Harlem Children’s Zone.
Today,his foundation is slowly
sellingoff these pieces, with the
moneygoing to benefit thousands
of Harlem schoolchildren.
I first saw Traylor’s work in my
30s, the first time it was nationally
exhibited in 1982—and it blew
my mind. Every person, animal,
and structure has this perfect
relationship to and conversation
with the four sides of the paper.
Someone’s feet might be just on
the bottom of the page. The hat
of a standing man just touches
the top of the paper; his raised
finger pings the top edge. This
isn’t some quaint, “folksy”
art. Traylor is up there with
Picasso in this formal regard.
Back in 1982, the art world
was solidifying into movements
and styles; modernism and
postmodernism were gods. But in
Traylor, we can see the power of
individual voice, of working with
the tools and materials at hand to
envision a whole world in one’s own
style. His imprint is as distinctive
as any artist who ever lived. His
story is a vision of hell, but the work
is transcendent and essential.exciting event, snake, plow,
figures chasing rabbit, 1939–42.man with cane on
construction, with dog, 1939–42.“bill traylor” is at David Zwirner through February 15.