Morton Patrick Traylor (April 6, 1918 – April 28, 1996) was an American

fine artist In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as p ...

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...

, serigrapher and founder of the Virginia Art Institute in

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...

Biography

Morton Traylor was born on April 6, 1918, in

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458 with a majority bla ...

. Traylor lived in Los Angeles most of his life. After graduating from

Eagle Rock High School Eagle Rock High School (ERHS) is a public school located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of northeast Los Angeles, California. History The school opened its doors on September 12, 1927.It was replaced by a new building in 1970. It was in the L ...

, he entered

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus of the U ...

, where his formal art training began. Around 1960, he moved to White Hall. In the mid-1960s, he established the Virginia Art Institute in

. The school was in operation for about ten years. Traylor married Maxine. Around 1986, he moved with his wife back west. Traylor died on April 28, 1996, aged 78, in

Roseburg, Oregon Roseburg is the most populous city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Oregon. It is located in the Umpqua River Valley in southern Oregon. Founded in 1851, the population was 23,683 at the 2020 census, making it the principal city of th ...

. Traylor was a painter and serigraph printmaker. His artwork can be found in museums and private collections around the world including the Georgia Museum of Art and

The British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

Professional life

* National Features Syndicate, New York, New York * McNaught Syndicate, St. Louis, Missouri. * Whitman Publishing Co. (Dell Comics) Beverley Hills, California * Northrop Aviation Co. Commercial Art Dept., Hawthorne, California * Art Director, "TRYOUT", Big Bear Lake, California * Owned and Operated Advertising Co., San Bernardino, California * President of Inter-Mountain Concert Society, California * Director of Lex Advertising Co., Charlottesville, Virginia * Owned and Operated Virginia Art & Advertising, Crozet, Virginia * Founder/Director of Virginia Art Institute, Charlottesville, Virginia

Awards and honors

* President of Kappa Tau Sigma, Honorary Art Society (1939) * LACC Summer Scholarship to Chouinard Art Institute through Latham Contest (1939) * Annual Scholarship to Chouinard through National competition (1940) * Graduated from LACC as one of six Honor Students Continuing Scholarship to Chouinard Art Institute (1941) * First Prize (Drawing) 3rd National Veterans' Exhibition, Long Beach, California (1949) * First Prize (Drawing) 5th Annual, Alley Gallery, Charlottesville, Virginia (1964) * First Prize (Print) Contemporary Southern Art Festival, Charlottesville, Virginia (1964) * Hon. Mention, Southern Art Festival, Atlanta Georgia (1964)

National and group exhibitions

* Municipal Art Commission, City Han, Los Angeles, California (1946) * Solon de L'Art Libre, Modern Museum of Art, Paris, France (1947) * First Annual Veterans' Exhibition, L. A. Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California (1946) * City Show at Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, California. (1946–47) * National Orange Show, San Bernardino, California (1949–50) * Los Angeles Art Association, Los Angeles, California (1949–51) * Print Club, Albany, New York

National Serigraph Society The National Serigraph Society was founded in 1940 by a group of artists involved in the WPA Federal Art Project, including Anthony Velonis, Max Arthur Cohn, and Hyman Warsager. The creation of the society coincided with the rise of serigraphs ...

, New York City, N. Y. (1949) * Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland, California San Francisco Museum of Art, California (1949) * Arizona State Fair, Phoenix Arizona Modern Institute of Art, Beverly Hills, California (1949) * First Annual Exhibition, Santa Paula, California (1949) * Los Angeles Annual, County Museum, Los Angeles, California (1950–55) * Los Angeles County Fair, Pomona, California (1950) * Western Drawing Institute Show, Jepson's Gallery, Los Angeles, California (1950–51) * Pennell Exhibition, Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. (1950) * Laguna National Print Exhibition, Laguna Beach, California (1950) * California State Fair, Sacramento, California (1949–50) * Landau Gallery Group Show, LaCieniga Blvd., Los Angeles, California (1951)

Publications

* Newspaper "Paris Montparnasse" Paris, France (1947) * Art News Magazine, December (1950) * Newspaper "Times" Los Angeles, California (1949) * "Sacramento Bee" Sacramento, California (1954) * Les Archives Historiques D'Art Contemporain De La Biennale De Venise (1954) * Prints of California Artists, Crest of Hollywood, California (1954) * The News-Review Roseburg, Oregon (1986)

References

Artists from Los Angeles Painters from Virginia People from Petersburg, Virginia Los Angeles City College alumni American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts 1918 births 1996 deaths Chouinard Art Institute alumni 20th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American printmakers 20th-century American male artists {{US-painter-1910s-stub