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Aviation Art Prints  Aviation Artists  Robert Taylor |
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The name Robert Taylor has been synonymous with aviation art over a quarter of a century. His paintings of aircraft, more than those of any other artist, have helped popularise a genre which at the start of this remarkable artist's career had little recognition in the world of fine art. When he burst upon the scene in the mid-1970s his vibrant, expansive approach to the subject was a revelation. His paintings immediately caught the imagination of enthusiasts and collectors alike . He became an instant success. As a boy, Robert seemed always to have a pencil in his hand. Aware of his natural gift from an early age, he never considered a career beyond art, and with unwavering focus, set out to achieve his goal. Leaving school at fifteen, he has never worked outside the world of art. After two years at the Bath School of Art he landed a job as an apprentice picture framer with an art gallery in Bath, the city where Robert has lived and worked all his life. Already competent with water-colours the young apprentice took every opportunity to study the works of other artists and, after trying his hand at oils, quickly determined he could paint to the same standard as much of the art it was his job to frame. Soon the gallery was selling his paintings, and the owner, recognising Roberts talent, promoted him to the busy picture-restoring department. Here, he repaired and restored all manner of paintings and drawings, the expertise he developed becoming the foundation of his career as a professional artist. Picture restoration is an exacting skill, requiring the ability to emulate the techniques of other painters so as to render the damaged area of the work undetectable. After a decade of diligent application, Robert became one of the most capable picture restorers outside London. Today he attributes his versatility to the years he spent painstakingly working on the paintings of others artists. After fifteen years at the gallery, by chance he was introduced to Pat Barnard, whose military publishing business happened also to be located in the city of Bath. When offered the chance to become a full-time painter, Robert leapt at the opportunity. Within a few months of becoming a professional artist, he saw his first works in print. Roberts early career was devoted to maritime paintings, and he achieved early success with his prints of naval subjects, one of his admirers being Lord Louis Mountbatten. He exhibited successfully at the Royal Society of Marine Artists in London and soon his popularity attracted the attention of the media. Following a major feature on his work in a leading national daily newspaper he was invited to appear in a BBC Television programme. This led to a string of commissions for the Fleet Air Arm Museum who, understandably, wanted aircraft in their maritime paintings. It was the start of Roberts career as an aviation artist. Fascinated since childhood by the big, powerful machines that man has invented, switching from one type of hardware to another has never troubled him. Being an artist of the old school, Robert tackled the subject of painting aircraft with the same gusto as with his large, action-packed maritime pictures - big compositions supported by powerful and dramatic skies, painted on large canvases. It was a formula new to the aviation art genre, at the time not used to such sweeping canvases, but one that came naturally to an artist whose approach appeared to have origins in an earlier classical period. Roberts aviation paintings are instantly recognisable. He somehow manages to convey all the technical detail of aviation in a traditional and painterly style, reminiscent of the Old Masters. With uncanny ability, he is able to recreate scenes from the past with a carefully rehearsed realism that few other artists ever manage to achieve. This is partly due to his prodigious research but also his attention to detail: Not for him shiny new factory-fresh aircraft looking like museum specimens. His trade mark, flying machines that are battle-scarred, worse for wear, with dings down the fuselage, chips and dents along the leading edges of wings, oil stains trailing from engine cowlings, paintwork faded with dust and grime; his planes are real! Roberts aviation works have drawn crowds in the international arena since the early 1980s. He has exhibited throughout the US and Canada, Australia, Japan and in Europe. His one-man exhibition at the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC was hailed as the most popular art exhibition ever held there. His paintings hang in many of the worlds great aviation museums, adorn boardrooms, offices and homes, and his limited edition prints are avidly collected all around the world. A family man with strong Christian values, Robert devotes most of what little spare time he has to his home life. Married to Mary for thirty five years, they have five children, all now grown up. Neither fame nor fortune has turned his head. He is the same easy-going, gentle character he was when setting out on his painting career all those years ago, but now with a confidence that comes with the knowledge that he has mastered his profession. Sadly he passed away in January 2024.
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Hell Hawks Over Utah by Robert Taylor. Without air supremacy D-Day and the invasion of north-west Europe would never have happened, and the tactical Ninth Air Force played a huge part in securing that position. The Ninth had fought with distinction from the deserts of North Africa to the invasion of Sicily and the fighting in Italy. They had spearheaded the assault on Ploesti and, from humble beginnings, had grown into one of the finest and most formidable Air Forces in the USAAF. Then, in October 1943, the Ninth were sent to England for their greatest challenge so far - providing air support for the US First Army during the forthcoming invasion of Normandy. By the morning of 6th June 1944 the Ninth was the largest and most effective tactical air force in the world, with over a quarter of a million personnel and more than 3,500 fighters, bombers and troop-carriers under its command. Amongst them were the P-47s of the 365th Fighter Group - the fearsome Hell Hawks - a unit that by the end of World War Two would become legendary. Amongst the first to use P-47s as fighter-bombers, the Hell Hawks were hard at work softening up the enemy in the build up to D-Day, dive-bombing bridges, rail lines, gun positions and airfields. With two 1,000-pound bombs below their wings along with ten 5-in rockets and eight .50 calibre machine guns, their enormous firepower devastated the German defenses on D-Day. The Hell Hawks supported the army throughout the Normandy campaign, all the way across northern France to the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, and beyond. It was a harsh nomadic life, eating and sleeping in tents and moving from one temporary strip to the next. By the end of hostilities in May 1945 the Hell Hawks had moved through 11 different airfields, more than any other fighter-bomber group in the Ninth Air Force. |
The Eagles Divide by Robert Taylor. P-51 Mustangs of the 357th Fighter Group clash with Me109s in close combat as they struggle for air superiority over the heart of Germany, during the desperate days of 1945. It had begun - the end game was inexorably in play. The final defeat of Germany and the end of Nazi tyranny was almost within sight but in the skies over Germany the defiant remnants of the Luftwaffe fought on with savage determination. Ever since the long-range American P-51 escort fighters had first appeared, the skies over the Reich had witnessed grim encounters with the Mustangs taking on the Luftwaffe as they tried to stop the heavy bombers of the USAAF reaching their targets. By early 1945 it was a losing battle, but still the Luftwaffe fought on and, in the resulting maelstrom of combat, the Mustang pilots still had their work cut out against these battle hardened, expert pilots. Robert Taylor's superb drawing dramatically reconstructs one such clash in early 1945 as P-51 Mustangs of the 357th Fighter Group have spotted a group of Bf109s heading their way. Without hesitation they dive head-on in an attempt to break-up the enemy formation and for the pilots on both sides the explosive encounter of close combat is suddenly upon them. Limited edition prints of this classic Robert Taylor Master Drawing have been signed over the last few years by some of the most respected USAAF P-51 and distinguished Luftwaffe pilots who duelled in those merciless skies over Europe. Since signing the prints some of these legendary names have very sadly passed away, making it one of the most collectible editions of recent years. |
Double Strike by Robert Taylor. Yom Kippur - the Day of Atonement - is the holiest day in the Hebrew calendar and in Israel is marked by a national holiday but on that day in 1973 the unexpected happened. At 14.00 hours on 6 October the coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israeli positions. Thousands of Egyptian troops swarmed across the Suez Canal into Israeli held Sinai whilst in the north nearly 1,500 Syrian tanks backed by artillery thrust west towards Israel. Facing this sudden surprise attack on the Golan Heights were less than 200 Israeli tanks. In the air, too, Egyptian and Syrian air forces struck in a single, co-ordinated assault hitting the Israeli anti-aircraft defences and hoping to deliver a fatal blow. Largely unprepared, Israel reeled however within hours it mobilised its fighting reserves and began a ferocious battle to stem the enemies advance. As Israeli tanks and infantry rushed to hold the front line and, in the north, push the enemy back, Israeli Air Force jets overhead fought a heroic battle to regain the initiative and control of the skies. It was grim work. Both Egyptian and Syrian forces were equipped with hundreds of Soviet-supplied SAM missiles but the tide of war was turning and a battered Israeli Air Force now went on the counter-offensive. And amongst their main targets were the heavily-defended Egyptian air bases that lay deep in the Nile delta. Robert Taylor's powerful and dramatic painting depicts one such strike that took place on 14 October 1973, half way through the war, when Israeli F-4 Phantom fighter-bombers made simultaneous strikes against the Egyptian air bases at Mansoura and Tanta north of Cairo. After the first wave struck the elite Egyptian MiG-21 units at El Mansoura, the other Phantom squadrons attacked Tanta in waves, turning to dog-fighting immediately after dropping their ordnance. Tanta was also home to two squadrons of Libyan Mirage 5s and the furious air battle that ensued involved countless fighter aircraft. Despite bitter opposition, the successful IAF missions eliminated much of the effectiveness of the Egyptian Air Force and its Libyan allies. |
American Eagles by Robert Taylor. The 357th Fighter Group was thrown into action soon after arriving in England in February 1944. Being the first fighter group equipped with P-51 Mustangs, great things were expected of them, and they did not disappoint; in the final year of the war they achieved a faster rate of victories than any other group in the 8th Air Force, and the record for the highest number of enemy aircraft shot down in a single mission - in excess of 50 - during a great air battle on 14th January 1945. |
First Sighting by Robert Taylor. Downed aircrew often drifted for days in their small inflatable dingies hoping rescue would come. Robert Taylors painting depicts that first sighting by an Air Sea Rescue Sunderland and the moment of joy of the aircrew. |
Operation Chastise by Robert Taylor. In one of the boldest precision raids of World War II, the valiant men of 617 Squadron breached the mighty dams of Germany. They were the Dambusters. On the night of 16/17 May 1943, nineteen Lancasters and 133 men from the recently formed 617 Squadron carried out one of the most spectacular precision raids in the history of air warfare. This highly secret undertaking went under the code name of Operation Chastise, but the world would come to know it simply as the Dambuster Raid. |
Almost Home by Robert Taylor. …night after night, month after month, our bomber squadrons travel far into Germany, find their targets, often under the heaviest fire, often with serious loss, with deliberate, careful discrimination, and inflict shattering blows upon the whole of the technical and war-making structure of the Nazi power. On no part of the Royal Air Force does the weight of the war fall more heavily than on the daylight bombers… - Winston Churchill. With these words the British Prime Minister reminded the House of Commons of the heroic role undertaken by the young men of RAF Bomber Command during World War II as they set out across the North Sea to wreak havoc upon the enemy. And the cost they bore - for the odds of a safe return were, at best, marginal. One aircraft above all came to symbolise the valiant deeds that these young men undertook - the mighty Avro Lancaster. Introduced in early 1942, it quickly became the backbone of Bomber Command and it wasn't long before a score of airfields across the east of England reverberated to the sound of its four mighty Merlin engines. In this painting, a lone 9 Squadron Lancaster, separated from the main force during a punishing mission to Germany in late 1944, returns to safety. The weary crew are no doubt relieved to see familiar fields beneath them as they approach their base at RAF Bardney. 9 Squadron had received their Lancasters in September 1942 and became a leading unit within Bomber Command. Working on operations alongside 617 Squadron, they specialised in dropping Barnes Wallis's famous 12,000lb Tallboy bombs, including the successful mission to sink the German battleship Tirpitz. |
Fastest Victory by Robert Taylor Taking his Hurricane off from Speke, a raiding JU88 crossed the airfield in front of Denys Gillam, who promptly shot it down. It was the fastest air victory of the war, and probably of all time. |
One MiG Down by Robert Taylor. A formation of Mirages led by Lt Col Avi Lanir, commander of 101 Squadron Israeli Air Force, intercepts MiG21s over the Syrian Desert on 9th November 1972. In the ensuing dogfight two of the Syrian MiGs are shot down, one of them from a direct hit by Lanir to score his second MiG victory. Created with the direct input of one of the greatest Jet Aces of the Supersonic age, Giora Epstein, this spectacular piece is a tribute to one of the greatest fighter leaders of the Isreali Air Force, Lt Colonel Avraham Lanir and depicts an arena of aviation combat that is seldom featured. |
Special Duties by Robert Taylor. A Junkers Ju52 of Luftflotte 2, escorted by Me109s of JG-53, transports important military personnel over the Dolomites in 1942. With the setting sun illuminating the mountain tops in a brilliant light, the panoramic vista is both chilling and spectacular. As the aircraft lumbers across the impressive mountain scenery, members of the High Command can be seen in conference in the cabin, while crew in the cockpit concentrate on their special duties flight plan. Behind them, unprotected from the elements, a lone gunner keeps a watchful eye. The Ju52 became the Luftwaffes primary wartime transport aircraft, taking part in every German army land operation during World War II. |
Close Call by Robert Taylor. A Spitfire of 610 Squadron narrowly misses colliding with an Me109 while in close combat, low over the south of England, during the late summer of 1940. |
Vital Support by Robert Taylor. Crucial to every squadron in the RAF were the unsung heroes of World War II - the ground crew. Without the vital support of these dedicated men who refuelled the aircraft, rearmed them, maintained them and kept them flying, the pilots and aircrew would, quite simply, never have got into the air. Robert Taylors drawing Vital Support shows ground crew bombing up a Mosquito of RAF Bomber Command. |
Flying Tigers - The Stuff of Legend by Robert Taylor. P-40s of the AVG Flying Tigers 3rd Pursuit Squadron - Hell's Angels - surprise the enemy with a deadly strafing attack on a Japanese forward air-base in China, summer 1942. With their Allison engines screaming at full throttle, AVG Aces Tommy Haywood and Robert Smith, lead the charge as the Hell's Angels leave a trail of havoc and destruction behind them. Robert Taylor has created a masterpiece to honor the Flying Tigers and the release is autographed by legendary Aces including four of the AVG's most respected pilots who, since signing, have sadly passed away, giving even greater meaning to this edition. |
Russian Roulette by Robert Taylor. A Soviet Yak 3 hurtles towards us in a typically daring head-on attack on a Bf109. Other Yaks wheel and turn frantically in search of the enemy. Casualties on both sides are evident. Away into the distant horizon stretches a vast Russian sky, painted in Roberts inimitable style: soon all will be quiet again until the next ferocious encounter. |
Fury of Assault by Robert Taylor. When Luftwaffe bombers first appeared in force in the night skies over London in September 1940 they heralded the beginning of The Blitz - the most sustained period of concentrated bombing aimed at British cities during World War II. Robert Taylors evocative painting brings to life the frightening scenario of the Luftwaffes night bombing campaign. It is December 1941, and London is once again under concentrated attack. With fires raging below, the armada of German bombers is clearly visible in the night sky as they sweep across the city. Shimmering in the glow of destruction, a lone Hurricane night-fighter from 85 Squadron, based at nearby Gravesend, engages Heinkel 111s of KG55 in a desperate attempt to break up the formations. |
Night Intruder by Robert Taylor. A colourful painting depicting a Mosquito, the fastest Allied aircraft and perhaps the most versatile of all to fly in World War II, dodging between the flak and searchlights on a low-level night attack. |
D-Day The Airborne Assault by Robert Taylor. It began in pitch darkness. June 6, 1944 was only a few minutes old when the Airborne Pathfinders drifted silently down from the sky above the fields of Normandy. At first their seemed nothing untoward about the drone of aircraft in the night sky. The German garrisons in Northern France were used to the noise of aircraft overhead after dark, but this night seemed particularly busy. Looking skyward a German sentry caught sight of parachutes floating down, clearly visible as the moon fleetingly broke through the clouds. For an instant he thought it was the crew jumping from a damaged bomber, but when he saw the mass of canopies floating earthwards, he knew it was no ordinary event. Within moments of raising the alarm the crackle of automatic gunfire confirmed his worst fears: The Invasion of France had begun. The first assault upon Hitlers Fortress Europe came from the sky. Shortly after midnight waves of aircraft and gliders delivered three Divisions of elite airborne troops into Normandy, their crucial objectives to seize vital bridges, secure strategic positions and clear the way for the coming aerial armada. As the first streaks of dawn came over the horizon on that historic day, and with American and British paratroops already engaged in furious fire fights, the mighty amphibious armada began landing on the beaches of Normandy. Above them waves of troop-carrying aircraft towing gliders stretched from the coast of France all the way back to England. Closely escorted by fighters, they delivered over 20,000 highly trained men into the battlefield of Northern France. By nightfall the first phase of the greatest military invasion in history was complete. Five Divisions were were ashore and the Allies had established a toehold in occupied Europe. For the Third Reich it was the beginning of the end. Without the advanced airborne assault, and the air supremacy achieved by the escort fighters, the amphibious landings could have been a disaster. Seen crossing the Normandy beaches are C-47 Dakotas of the 438th Troop Carrier Group towing CG-4 Waco gliders, closely escorted by P-51Bs of the 354 Fighter Group. Below, landing craft swarm ashore putting men and equipment on the beaches, and everything about this spectacular painting brings alive the events of that historic day a half a century ago. |
Home Again England by Robert Taylor. By April 1945 everyone, except a few die-hard fanatical Nazis, knew the war in Europe was over; the end was only a matter of time. So when Bomber Command dispatched a force of over 300 Lancaster bombers to destroy Hitler's infamous Obersalzberg retreat at Berchtesgaden on 25th April, it would prove to be their last major raid of the war - just a few days later Hitler committed suicide as Berlin crumpled around him. In the early hours of 7th May General Alfred Jodl, Chief-of-Staff of German High Command, unconditionally surrendered all German armed forces and for the RAF the war in mainland Europe was finally over. The fight had lasted for nearly six years during which time its airmen had faced unmitigated dangers and often appalling flying conditions, with moments of exhilaration balanced by those of terror because victory had come at a terrible price; of the 125,000 aircrew to have served in RAF Bomber Command 55,573 had been killed whilst in Fighter Command 3,690 airmen had paid the ultimate sacrifice. Undoubtedly the aircrew who flew and fought with the RAF as it played its part in removing the tyranny of Nazi power and occupation from Europe were among the bravest of the brave and two aircraft above all others came to symbolise their heroic fight: the elegant Spitfire, magnificent in defence during the dark days of 1940, lethal in attack thereafter; and the awe-inspiring Avro Lancaster, the four-engined heavy bomber that from 1942 onwards formed the backbone of Bomber Command and allowed the RAF to take the war into the very heart of Hitler's Germany. In recognition of the role played by these two legendary aircraft and the men who flew them, Home Again England depicts a scene during those final few weeks of the war. A battle-weary Lancaster limps home along the Norfolk coast with its outer starboard engine feathered and out of action following one of Bomber Command's last daylight operations. Luckily a group of Mk.XIV Spitfires is on hand to provide close escort and will see the bomber safely back to base. |
Hunters in the Desert by Robert Taylor (AP). Hans-Joachim Marseille makes a jubilant low pass as he returns to his desert airstrip having just achieved his 100th victory. In the foreground his fellow pilots are seen clambering out of their Me109s having just completed another successful mission. |
Mustang Recce by Robert Taylor. Russ Berg flies his 10th Recce Group P51s in low and fast, dodging flak and enemy fighters, to get vital photographs for General Patons advancing forces. A superb study of World War IIs most outstanding tactical fighter in action, in the hands of one of the USAAFs most distinguished and highly decorated pilots. |
Towards the Home Fires by Robert Taylor. As the New Year of 1945 dawned, the snow had already spread to blanket the southern half of England. The festivities of Christmas had passed and the relentless pounding of German cities and industrial targets continued unabated. On every front Hitler's once-fabled armies were in full retreat. The endgame was now in play. With dusk approaching, Robin Olds, flying his P-51K Scat VI, leads a flight of Mustangs of the 434th Fighter Squadron, 479th Fighter Group low over the historic estuary town of Maldon in Essex as they head home to their base at Wattisham, 14 February 1945. The mission saw Olds add three more German fighters to his tally south of Berlin, making him one of the foremost Aces of the unit. |
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