Man with Pipe

Man with Pipe is an exceptional work, revealing Bill Traylor’s mastery over space, his subject matter and his media. Traylor was born into slavery in circa 1853 and most likely did not begin drawing until he was in his eighties while living in Montgomery, Alabama. This work was made between 1939 and 1942, a brief period during which Traylor executed his extant drawings and paintings on cardboard. With the figure’s reductive form and bold use of the color blue, Man with Pipe exhibits the classic trademarks of Traylor. The gentleman seen here with one hand on his hip, the other holding a pipe to his mouth, strides forward. Traylor draws the viewer in with the figure’s stippled brown torso and radiating blue trousers. Traylor’s subtle use of blue in his chin, neck, thumb and wrist balances the composition and further encourages the viewer’s eye.