Untitled (Seated Woman)

Bill Traylor, Untitled (Seated Woman), ca. 1940-1942, opaque watercolor and pencil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson, 2016.38.92, © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust
Bill Traylor, Untitled (Seated Woman), ca. 1940-1942, opaque watercolor and pencil on paperboard, 14 1⁄2 × 8 in. (36.8 × 20.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson, 2016.38.92, © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled (Seated Woman)
Artist
Date
ca. 1940-1942
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
14 1⁄2 × 8 in. (36.8 × 20.3 cm)
Copyright
© 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust
Credit Line
The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson
Mediums Description
opaque watercolor and pencil on paperboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure female — full length
Object Number
2016.38.92
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2016.38.92

Artwork Description

Traylor had a knack for compressing a world of emotion into the flattest of forms. He often made pictures in single colors—favoring blue, yellow, and red to convey different moods—but the paintings he made in solid black may be his most iconic. Here, a woman sits with hands on her hips, exuding confidence and personal power. Her chin and nose tilt upward in a pose that radiates pride. She faces forward, looking toward the future, ready to take on whatever comes.
(We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection, 2022)

Works by this artist (4 items)

Dominick Labino, Fountain with Blue, from the Fountain Series, 1979, glass, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Elmerina and Paul Parkman, 1999.89.3
Fountain with Blue, from the Fountain Series
Artist
Date1979
glass
Not on view
Dominick Labino, Untitled, 1969, glass, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Lloyd E. Herman, founding director and director emeritus of the Renwick Gallery (1971-1986), in memory of Paul Vickers Gardner, Curator Emeritus, National Museum of American History, Division of Ceramics and Glass, Smithsonian Institution , 1994.101
Untitled
Artist
Date1969
glass
Not on view
Dominick Labino, Cased Aerial, 1976, glass, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Elmerina and Paul Parkman, 2002.73.11
Cased Aerial
Artist
Date1976
glass
Not on view
Dominick Labino, Polychroma, 1983, glass, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Elmerina and Paul Parkman, 2002.73.12
Polychroma
Artist
Date1983
glass
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2016.38.43R-V - SAAM-2016.38.43R-V_2 - 126225
We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection
July 1, 2022–March 26, 2023
Smithsonian American Art Museum
We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection traces the rise of self-taught artists in the twentieth century and examines how, despite wide-ranging societal, racial, and gender-based obstacles, their creativity and

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Leopardus pardalis (Ocelot)
Artist
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On view
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Artist
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On view
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Acinonyx jubatus (Cheetah)
Artist
Date1998
hot glass and Graal technique
On view
Mark Matthews, Panthera onca (Jaguar), 1998, hot glass and Graal technique, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist and family in honor of Francis M. Greenwell, 1999.21.7, © 1999, Mark Matthews
Panthera onca (Jaguar)
Artist
Date1998
hot glass and Graal technique
On view