Bill Traylor Auction Prices and Value Guide

Bill Traylor auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 177 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Bill Traylor auction prices: quick answer

Bill Traylor auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.

Artist
Bill Traylor
Source records
177
Market update
2026-02-16

Bill Traylor market snapshot

Bill Traylor shows solid auction liquidity with 117 tracked lots. Median realized sale is around $42,500. Category concentration is still broad or sparse. Last 12 months recorded 3 sales. Latest recorded sale: 2025-12-06.

Realized price distribution

  • Under $1,000 (1.0% · 1 sales)
  • $1,000 to $10,000 (11.5% · 12 sales)
  • $10,000+ (87.5% · 91 sales)
Median sale (last 12 months)
$2,200
Sales recorded (last 12 months)
3
Median shift vs prior year
0.0%
Latest recorded sale
2025-12-06

Artist context

About Bill Traylor

Born

1854

Died

1949

Nationality

American

Also known as

William Traylor

Bill Traylor (1854–1949) was an African American self-taught artist and former sharecropper whose life and work were rooted in Alabama. Born into slavery, he remained connected to plantation labor for much of his life before moving to Montgomery in old age. He began drawing there around 1939, using pencil and other materials on scraps of cardboard and paper. During the concentrated period from 1939 to 1942, he created an estimated 1,500 works that transformed memories and observations into spare, animated images. Human figures, animals, gestures, and everyday activity recur across his surviving drawings and gouaches. Traylor’s late start, compressed working period, and distinctive visual vocabulary place him within histories of American self-taught and African American art. Collectors encounter his work primarily as individual works on paper, often made on irregular or repurposed supports, as well as through museum collections and the secondary auction market.

Self-taught artPencil drawing on paper or scrap cardboardGouacheDrawingPaintingHuman figuresAnimalsRecollections and observations of everyday life

Common works and media

Collectors most often encounter Traylor through drawings and gouache works on paper or reused cardboard. Pencil was a core tool, and documented subjects include compact human figures, animals, and scenes derived from memory and observed life. Works associated with his concentrated 1939–1942 period in Montgomery are central to his known output. Medium and support should be recorded precisely rather than generalized, because the surviving body includes varied works on paper and cardboard.

Market and appraisal context

Appraisal should begin by identifying whether the work is a pencil drawing, a gouache, or another work on paper or cardboard, because the source pack documents these as recurring forms. Subject also matters for comparison: authority data specifically identifies figures and animals, while the documented 1939–1942 period provides important chronological context. Appraisily’s public artist page signals a substantial auction-record set, so market analysis should compare the object with publicly recorded lots sharing its medium, support, subject, and approximate date. A realized price is a historical result rather than a prediction. The available source pack does not provide sale-by-sale provenance, condition, dimensions, or attribution notes, so those object-specific facts must be established before a defensible appraisal.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • Drawings and works on paper
  • Gouache paintings
  • Figure and animal compositions

Value drivers

  1. Medium and support, including pencil on paper or scrap cardboard versus gouache
  2. Subject type, particularly figure or animal imagery
  3. Relationship to the documented 1939-1942 working period
  4. Comparison with relevant public auction records, sale dates, and realized prices

Appraisal caveats

  • The collected pack identifies a substantial auction-record signal but does not provide sale-by-sale dimensions, condition, provenance, or attribution notes.
  • Realized auction prices are historical comparables, not predictions of a future sale or appraisal value.
  • Object-specific attribution, support, medium, condition, and provenance require separate examination before valuation.

Evidence

Sources for artist context

This source-grounded artist context is based on collected public records: medium confidence, adequate source quality.

Source-grounded artist Markdown

Data basis

This page is built from Appraisily's public auction market index. Private transactions, incomplete sale feeds, and attribution changes may not be fully represented.

LLM-readable Markdown summary for Bill Traylor

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Bill Traylor worth?

Comparable public auction sales are the best starting point, but final value depends on the specific artwork, condition, size, medium, provenance, and attribution confidence.

Can Appraisily value my Bill Traylor artwork?

Yes. Appraisily can review photos, dimensions, signatures, condition, provenance, and comparable market data to prepare a current valuation.