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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
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Untitled (Seated Woman)
- Artist
- Date
- ca. 1940-1942
- Location
- 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
- Keywords
- Figure female — full length
- Object Number
- 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)
Exhibitions
July 1, 2022–March 26, 2023
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 bold self-definition became major forces in American art. The exhibition features recent gifts to the museum from two generations of collectors, Margaret Z. Robson and Douglas O. Robson.