Morton Patrick Traylor was an American fine artist, designer

Designer

A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...

, serigrapher and founder of the Virginia Art Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia

Charlottesville, Virginia

Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...

.

Biography

Born in Petersburg, Virginia

Petersburg, Virginia

Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...

 on April 6, 1918, Morton Traylor lived in Los Angeles most of his life. After graduating from Eagle Rock High School, he entered Los Angeles City College

Los Angeles City College

Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...

, where his formal art training began. He then attended the Chouinard Art Institute

Chouinard Art Institute

The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 in Los Angeles, California, by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard .-Founder:...

 for two years, holding scholarships won in competition. While at Chouinard, Traylor was introduced to Rico Lebrun

Rico Lebrun

Rico Lebrun was an Italy-born, Italian-American painter and sculptor.-Biography :Lebrun was born on December 10, 1900 in Naples, Italy. His formal art education consisted of attending technical school and art classes at night, studying the Old Masters in museums, and assisting fresco painters...

, who taught life drawing.

In the spring of 1942, Traylor entered the Navy, where he became an aviation radio man and stationed with a Blimp Squadron in Brazil. While in service his work was exhibited at the Civic Service Club in Jacksonville, Florida in 1943, and later at Moffett Field, California in 1945. A group of his paintings were then shown at Los Angeles City College in 1946.

Traylor was invited to attend École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts

École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts

The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts is the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France.The École des Beaux-arts is made up of a vast complex of buildings located at 14 rue Bonaparte, between the quai Malaquais and the rue Bonaparte, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Près,...

 (National School of the Fine Arts) in Paris, France. He exhibited in the Palais de New York, where he received much praise and a number of newspaper mentions. After returning to Los Angeles, Traylor was invited to teach at the Jepson Art Institute

Jepson Art Institute

Jepson Art Institute, founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by artist Herbert Jepson, was an art school located at 2861 West 7th Street that flourished from 1947 to 1953 - becoming an important center for experimental figure drawing, art theory and printmaking. Prior to this, Jepson served as an...

 alongside former teacher, Rico Lebrun

Rico Lebrun

Rico Lebrun was an Italy-born, Italian-American painter and sculptor.-Biography :Lebrun was born on December 10, 1900 in Naples, Italy. His formal art education consisted of attending technical school and art classes at night, studying the Old Masters in museums, and assisting fresco painters...

.

In 1964, he established the Virginia Art Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia

Charlottesville, Virginia

Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...

.

Morton Traylor's artwork can be found in museums and private collections around the world including the Georgia Museum of Art and The British Museum.

Professional life

• National Features Syndicate, New York, N.Y.
• 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, 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)

Gallery