Michael Taylor

Michael Taylor, sometimes signing as Michael R Taylor (born 1952), is an English artist specialising in figurative oil paintings, still lifes and portraits. His works are held by many public and private collections including four works by the National Portrait Gallery, London.

He was born in Worthing, Sussex, and attended Worthing College of Art (1969-70) and Goldsmiths School of Art (1970-73), where among his teachers were Stephen McKenna and Basil Beattie. He moved to Dorset in 1978.

Exhibitions and awards

Taylor has exhibited inter alia at the Royal Academy,

His awards include the National Portrait Gallery John Player Award, subsequently renamed the BP Portrait Award (1983), and the Holburne Portrait Prize at the Holburne Museum of Art in Bath.

Portraits and commissions

Although not primarily a portrait painter, Taylor has painted the guitarist Julian Bream,