{"id":678,"date":"2014-07-01T17:30:12","date_gmt":"2014-07-01T21:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/?page_id=678"},"modified":"2014-07-04T14:05:07","modified_gmt":"2014-07-04T18:05:07","slug":"traylor","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/traylor\/","title":{"rendered":"Page-Traylor"},"content":{"rendered":"<script>fsg_json['fsg_post_678'] = [\n{id: 938, image: 'https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/files\/2014\/07\/Traylor_UntitledConstructionwithFigures2-copy-e1404338281574.jpg', extlink: '', thumb: 'https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/files\/2014\/07\/Traylor_UntitledConstructionwithFigures2-copy-e1404327498224-215x215.jpg', permalink: '<div class=\"galleria-layeritem\"><a title=\"Permalink\" href=\"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/traylor\/#938\"><div class=\"galleria-link-bookmark\"><\/div><\/a><\/div>', layer: '<div class=\"galleria-infolayer\"><div class=\"galleria-layeritem\" style=\"padding-right: 20px;\"><h1>Bill Traylor<\/h1><h1><i>Untitled (Construction with Figures)<\/i>, ca. 1939-42<\/h1><p class=\"galleria-info-description\">Posterpaint on cardboard<br\/>Courtesy Blanchard-Hill Collection<\/p><\/div><div class=\"galleria-layeritem\"><a title=\"Permalink\" href=\"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/traylor\/#938\"><div class=\"galleria-link-bookmark\"><\/div><\/a><\/div><div class=\"galleria-layeritem\" style=\"padding-right: 20px;\"><\/div>'},\n{id: 936, image: 'https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/files\/2014\/07\/Traylor_UntitledGirlwithDog-e1404338307297.jpg', extlink: '', thumb: 'https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/files\/2014\/07\/Traylor_UntitledGirlwithDog-e1404327460257-215x215.jpg', permalink: '<div class=\"galleria-layeritem\"><a title=\"Permalink\" href=\"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/traylor\/#936\"><div class=\"galleria-link-bookmark\"><\/div><\/a><\/div>', layer: '<div class=\"galleria-infolayer\"><div class=\"galleria-layeritem\" style=\"padding-right: 20px;\"><h1>Bill Traylor<\/h1><h1><i>Untitled (Girl with Dog)<\/i>, ca. 1939 - 1942<\/h1><p class=\"galleria-info-description\">Showcard color and pencil on cardboard<br\/>Courtesy Blanchard-Hill Collection<\/p><\/div><div class=\"galleria-layeritem\"><a title=\"Permalink\" href=\"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/traylor\/#936\"><div class=\"galleria-link-bookmark\"><\/div><\/a><\/div><div class=\"galleria-layeritem\" style=\"padding-right: 20px;\"><\/div>'}\n];<\/script>\n<p><strong>Bill Traylor<\/strong> (American, 1854\u20131949)<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_453\" style=\"width: 169px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-453\" class=\" wp-image-453     \" style=\"margin-top: -9px;margin-bottom: -9px\" alt=\"Traylor, Bill - Courtesy of the Charles E. andEugenia C. Shannon Trust, 1939\" src=\"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/files\/2014\/07\/Traylor-Bill-Courtesy-of-the-Charles-E.-andEugenia-C.-Shannon-Trust-1939-159x250.jpg\" width=\"159\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/files\/2014\/07\/Traylor-Bill-Courtesy-of-the-Charles-E.-andEugenia-C.-Shannon-Trust-1939-159x250.jpg 159w, https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/files\/2014\/07\/Traylor-Bill-Courtesy-of-the-Charles-E.-andEugenia-C.-Shannon-Trust-1939-190x300.jpg 190w, https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/files\/2014\/07\/Traylor-Bill-Courtesy-of-the-Charles-E.-andEugenia-C.-Shannon-Trust-1939.jpg 477w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 159px) 100vw, 159px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-453\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">1939, photo courtesy of the Charles E. and Eugenia C. Shannon Trust<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Bill Traylor was born a slave on a small cotton plantation in Benton, Alabama, around 1853. There he remained until well after emancipation, working as a sharecropper and laborer. Very little is known about Traylor\u2019s life, except what can be discerned from census reports. In 1939 Traylor, unemployed and homeless, was \u201cdiscovered\u201d by Charles E. Shannon, an artist himself, while drawing on found paper and cardboard on a street corner. During the next three years, Traylor would produce over twelve hundred drawings and paintings. Shannon promoted and preserved Traylor\u2019s artwork and in the late 1970s, thirty years after Traylor\u2019s death, the artwork prompted a national interest in African American history and culture awoken by the civil rights movement and the overturning of Jim Crow laws. Traylor\u2019s artwork is often admired for the artist\u2019s remarkable use of empty space, the individuality of his figures and animals, and his simplicity of line and shape. Often working on found paper and cardboard, Traylor employed each uneven surface to enliven his spare compositions, creating expressive scenes that are dynamic even in their simplicity.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 25%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-678 gallery-columns-4 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a data-postid=\"fsg_post_678\" data-imgid=\"938\" href='https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/files\/2014\/07\/Traylor_UntitledConstructionwithFigures2-copy-e1404338281574.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"215\" height=\"215\" src=\"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/files\/2014\/07\/Traylor_UntitledConstructionwithFigures2-copy-e1404327498224-215x215.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-938\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-938'>\n\t\t\t\t<i>Untitled (Construction with Figures)<\/i>, ca. 1939-42\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a data-postid=\"fsg_post_678\" data-imgid=\"936\" href='https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/files\/2014\/07\/Traylor_UntitledGirlwithDog-e1404338307297.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"215\" height=\"215\" src=\"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/files\/2014\/07\/Traylor_UntitledGirlwithDog-e1404327460257-215x215.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-936\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-936'>\n\t\t\t\t<i>Untitled (Girl with Dog)<\/i>, ca. 1939 &#8211; 1942\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bill Traylor (American, 1854\u20131949) Bill Traylor was born a slave on a small cotton plantation in Benton, Alabama, around 1853. There he remained until well after emancipation, working as a sharecropper and laborer. Very little is known about Traylor\u2019s life, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/traylor\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3265,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"showcase.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-678","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":944,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/678\/revisions\/944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/facesandfigures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}