After a lifetime on a plantation, former slave Bill Traylor moved to Montgomery. There, from a doorstep on Monroe Street, he composed starkly modernist images of lively animals, vibrant landscapes, and active people. Born into slavery in the 1850s, Traylor most likely did not begin drawing until he was in his eighties. Man With Hat and Cane, created at the beginning of his artistic career between 1939 and 1942, reveals his early exploration of color, geometry, and presence. The man’s torso is constructed as a geometric block, standing upright and alert, charged with contained energy and nearly occupying the full surface of the card, asserting authority within the confined space.

The work carries a distinct autobiographical essence and may be read either as a self-portrait or as a depiction of George Hartwell Traylor, the man who oversaw the estate on which Traylor was enslaved. An inscription on the surface states: “Bill Traylor. Born at Benton Ala. Lowndes Ky, April 1, 1855 Raised under Mr. George Traylor.” Although the year of his birth varies in historical accounts, a review of estate records points to April 1853, with April 1 repeatedly cited as the day. Documents from the estate of John Getson Traylor confirm that Bill, the son of Bill and Sally Calloway-Traylor, was born enslaved on a cotton plantation in Dallas County, Alabama, near Pleasant Hill. Following J. G. Traylor’s death, his brother George relocated the remaining slaves to his own plantation in Lowndes County, contributing to the later misconception that the artist originated there. In reality, Traylor spent his earliest years in Dallas County and primarily knew George as the authority figure, explaining his statement that he had been “raised under Mr. George Traylor.” In Man With Hat and Cane, biography, memory, and identity intersect, the solitary figure standing as both subject and subtle meditation on history.