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
Copied 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)

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