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This drawing is one of his earlier compositions and shows how Traylor created his scenes with the visible erasure marks near the figures’ arms and legs. The two male figures seem to be floating on the page in energetic poses. Both “bird” and “chick” are English derived slang referring to women, but “bird” as a metaphor for women has African roots. Scholar Leslie Umberger believes the birds depicted could be construed as allegorical stand ins for women. In this dance-like scene the two men seem to be tussling while birds rest on their heads, perhaps alluding to women being on their minds.
The birds might alternately, or even simultaneously, embody the idea of freedom, a theme Traylor conveyed multiple times within his collective works with abundant allusions to birds taking flight or appearing unbound by gravity.
Exhibition History“Self Taught Artists of the 20th Century: An American Anthology,” American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY, March 10 – May 17, 1988.
“Bill Traylor, William Edmondson, and the Modernist Impulse,” Krannert Art Museum, Urbana-Champaign, IL, October 22, 2004 – January 2, 2005; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL, February 1 – April 3, 2005; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY; April 20 – June 26, 2005; The Menil Collection, Houston, TX, July 22 – October 2, 2005.
“Traylor in Motion: Wonders from New York Collections,” American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY, June 11 – 22 September 22, 2013.
“Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor,” Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D. C., September 28, 2018 - April 7, 2019.
ProvenanceHirschl and Adler Gallery, New York; Ricco Maresca Gallery, New York; Acquired by William Louis-Dreyfus, Mount Kisco, New York, 1994; Gifted to The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation, Mount Kisco, New York, 2013.
BibliographyRicco Maresca Gallery, "Bill Traylor: Observing Life" (Ricco Maresca, 1997), no. 11.
Josef Helfenstein and Roxanne Stanulis, eds., "Bill Traylor, William Edmondson, and the Modernist Impulse" (Krannert Art Museum and the Menil Collection in association with the University of Washington Press, 2004), no. 15.
Umberger, Leslie, "Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor" (Princeton, New Jersey, 2018), p. 177.
Artist
Bill Traylor
(1853 - 1949)
Two Figures with Pitchfork and Birds
Date1939-1942
DimensionsSight: 12 1/2 × 15 1/4 in. (31.8 × 38.7 cm)
Object numberN0003.2021
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Museum Purchase
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextBill Traylor is widely considered to be one of the most important African American folk artists of the 20th century. He was born into slavery on a cotton plantation in Dallas County, Alabama in 1853 and spent the majority of his life after emancipation as a sharecropper. Traylor began documenting his observations and recollections on scrap paper and cardboard when he moved to Montgomery in the late 1930s. Setting himself up on Monroe Avenue, he captured the daily scenes surrounding him and drew memories of the plantation. In 1939 he met artist Charles Shannon, who began supplying him with materials and helped to preserve his older works. The first exhibition of Traylor’s work occurred in 1940 and catapulted his career. It wasn’t until 30 years after his death that Traylor gained broader attention and was cemented as a significant figure of American folk and modern art.This drawing is one of his earlier compositions and shows how Traylor created his scenes with the visible erasure marks near the figures’ arms and legs. The two male figures seem to be floating on the page in energetic poses. Both “bird” and “chick” are English derived slang referring to women, but “bird” as a metaphor for women has African roots. Scholar Leslie Umberger believes the birds depicted could be construed as allegorical stand ins for women. In this dance-like scene the two men seem to be tussling while birds rest on their heads, perhaps alluding to women being on their minds.
The birds might alternately, or even simultaneously, embody the idea of freedom, a theme Traylor conveyed multiple times within his collective works with abundant allusions to birds taking flight or appearing unbound by gravity.
Exhibition History“Self Taught Artists of the 20th Century: An American Anthology,” American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY, March 10 – May 17, 1988.
“Bill Traylor, William Edmondson, and the Modernist Impulse,” Krannert Art Museum, Urbana-Champaign, IL, October 22, 2004 – January 2, 2005; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL, February 1 – April 3, 2005; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY; April 20 – June 26, 2005; The Menil Collection, Houston, TX, July 22 – October 2, 2005.
“Traylor in Motion: Wonders from New York Collections,” American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY, June 11 – 22 September 22, 2013.
“Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor,” Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D. C., September 28, 2018 - April 7, 2019.
ProvenanceHirschl and Adler Gallery, New York; Ricco Maresca Gallery, New York; Acquired by William Louis-Dreyfus, Mount Kisco, New York, 1994; Gifted to The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation, Mount Kisco, New York, 2013.
BibliographyRicco Maresca Gallery, "Bill Traylor: Observing Life" (Ricco Maresca, 1997), no. 11.
Josef Helfenstein and Roxanne Stanulis, eds., "Bill Traylor, William Edmondson, and the Modernist Impulse" (Krannert Art Museum and the Menil Collection in association with the University of Washington Press, 2004), no. 15.
Umberger, Leslie, "Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor" (Princeton, New Jersey, 2018), p. 177.
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