Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts (2021)
This illuminating documentary explores the life of a unique American artist, a man with a remarkable and unlikely biography. Bill Traylor was born into slavery in 1853 on a cotton plantation in rural Alabama. After the Civil War, Traylor continued to farm the land as a sharecropper until the late 1920s. Aging and alone, he moved to Montgomery and worked odd jobs in the thriving segregated black neighborhood. A decade later, in his late 80s, Traylor became homeless and started to draw and paint, both memories from plantation days and scenes of a radically changing urban culture. He made well over a thousand drawings and paintings between 1939-1942. This colorful, strikingly modernist work eventually led him to be recognized as one of America’s greatest self-taught artists and the subject of a Smithsonian retrospective.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts about?
- This illuminating documentary explores the life of a unique American artist, a man with a remarkable and unlikely biography. Bill Traylor was born into slavery in 1853 on a cotton plantation in rural Alabama. After the Civil War, Traylor continued to farm the land as a sharecropper until the late 1920s. Aging and alone, he moved to Montgomery and worked odd jobs in the thriving segregated black neighborhood. A decade later, in his late 80s, Traylor became homeless and started to draw and paint, both memories from plantation days and scenes of a radically changing urban culture. He made well over a thousand drawings and paintings between 1939-1942. This colorful, strikingly modernist work eventually led him to be recognized as one of America’s greatest self-taught artists and the subject of a Smithsonian retrospective.
- Who directed Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts?
- Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts was directed by Jeffrey Wolf.
- How long is Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts?
- Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts has a runtime of 1h 15m (75 minutes).
- What genre is Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts?
- Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts is a Documentary film.
- How much did Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts gross?
- Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts grossed $4,504 worldwide.
- Where was Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts produced?
- Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts was produced in United States of America.