Robert Taylor, Avaiation Artist
Robert Taylor is the most widely collected aviation artist. His works capture the prowess of fighter pilots and aviation.
Taylor’s artwork depicts aviation scenes. His paintings convey the technical details of the machines, while still portraying an overall aesthetically pleasing and even romanticized image. The airplanes are depicted with realistic detail, including even scuffed paint, scratches, and dirt. Many prints of Taylor’s works have been produced, including prints with signatures of the pilots who flew the planes that he depicted in his paintings.
Taylor spent much of his life in Bath, England working as a fine art restorer. He was regarded as one of the most talented restorers in the West of England and often worked on many works by Old Masters. Taylor was 32 when he became a full time painter for The Military Gallery. The impact of his early restoration career can easily be seen in his popular, dramatic, and inspiring aviation works, which have been produced with great attention to detail.
One example of Taylor’s incredible work is displayed in this limited edition color lithograph, which was published in 1989 by Robert Taylor. It is numbered 560 of just 1,250. “Zemke’s Wolfpack” has been signed by Bud Mahurin, Robert Johnson, Frances Gabreski, and the first commander, Hub Zemke. The dynamic scene depicts the famous Wolfpack fighting off German FW190s and defending a damaged B-17.
Originally known as the 56th Fighter Group, “Zemke’s Wolfpack” quickly became a popular nickname for its pilots. These pilots were greatly feared by their enemies in WWII and produced more “aces” than any other USAAF group in history. The Wolfpack was sent to England when the U.S. entered WWII and underwent numerous missions across France and Germany, accompanying Allied bombers on missions. The only group to use P-47s throughout the war, the pilots employed a dive, fire, and return technique to make up for the plane’s lack of maneuverability. Zemke and his men effectively dive-bombed airfields, troops, supply lines, and overall destroyed more enemy aircraft in combat than any other fighter group in the Eighth Air Force. The prowess of this group is represented in Taylor’s work, and the signatures from the actual pilots below makes this work an extraordinarily collectable piece.
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