Richard Deane Taylor

Richard Deane Taylor (January 13, 1925 – November 21, 2014) was an American illustrator, commercial artist, educator, portrait painter, and fine artist whose career spanned Golden Age comic books, editorial illustration, advertising art, and photorealist painting. His artwork appeared in publications including Collier's, TRUE, National Geographic, Holiday, Sport, and Life, and in advertising campaigns for companies including Hiram Walker, Dewar's, Johnson & Johnson, and Air France. A 1951 portrait by Taylor of President Herbert Hoover entered the collection of the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery.

Early life and education Taylor was born Meyer Tuchschneider in New York City on January 13, 1925

During the early 1940s he worked as a staff cartoonist for Fawcett Publications during the Golden Age of comic books. In an interview with Hamerlink, Taylor recounted his work on the story Captain Marvel and the Lie Detector during his time at Fawcett Publications

Taylor served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946, where he worked in the art department of the Provost Marshal General's School within the Corps of Military Police, producing posters, magazines, training charts, and instructional visual materials.

Following his military service in World War II, Taylor studied painting and illustration in Paris, attending the École des Beaux-Arts and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière Herbert Hoover, Arch Ward, Eisenhower, Princess Margaret & Margaret Truman, Al Lang, Jack (Doc) Kearns, as well as Cold War-themed political artwork.

Taylor created the cover illustration for the October 27, 1951 issue of Collier's, titled Preview of the War We Do Not Want, depicting a hypothetical Soviet occupation scenario during the early Cold War.

Taylor created political portrait illustrations for nationally distributed magazines during the 1950s, including cover artwork related to the 1956 United States presidential election for TRUE: The Man's Magazine.

Commercial advertising Taylor created illustration work for national advertising campaigns during the 1950s and 1960s. Contemporary agency correspondence and published advertisements document commissions executed for major advertising firms including Young & Rubicam, Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn (BBDO), Cunningham & Walsh, Foote, Cone & Belding, and The Rossin Creative Group.

His commercial illustration work appeared in print and billboard campaigns associated with Hiram Walker, Dewar's Whiskey, Johnson & Johnson, Folgers Coffee, Air France, Gulf Oil, Esso Standard Oil, DuPont Chemicals, White Owl Cigars, Schaefer Beer, General Electric, Viceroy Cigarettes, and AT&T Yellow Pages, including artwork associated with the Walking Fingers campaign for the New York Telephone Company

Taylor produced portrait illustrations for Hiram Walker's Man, this is whiskey! Imperial Whiskey campaign, including advertisements featuring athletes, outdoorsmen, sailors, and authors such as Roscoe Reams, Chuck Meyer, Louis L'Amour, and Lou Whitman.

Advertising agency records from Foote, Cone & Belding later documented that Taylor's Imperial Whiskey artwork was reproduced in Life magazine and in 24-sheet outdoor advertising posters during 1955 and 1956.

Taylor also created advertising artwork for Dewar's Scotch Whiskey campaigns featuring Scottish ceremonial imagery, which appeared in publications including Playboy and Time magazines among others during the 1960s.

In 2015, an article describing Taylor's commercial art career later appeared in HuffPost under the title The Last of the Real Mad Men.

Historical illustration and cartography Taylor collaborated with historian and author Dan Kurzman, providing maps and illustration work for several historical publications including Race for Rome, Genesis 1948, Fatal Voyage: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis, and Ben-Gurion: Prophet of Fire. Acknowledgments sections in Kurzman's books credited Taylor for drawing maps and historical illustrations used throughout the publications.

National Portrait Gallery The 1951 portrait painted by Taylor of President Herbert Hoover for the cover of Collier's August 11, 1951

Churchill portraiture Taylor's September 22, 1951 Collier's cover portrait of Winston Churchill

A portrait illustration by Taylor was also used for the French edition of Boris Johnson's Churchill biography Winston: Comment un seul homme a fait l'histoire.

Teaching and fine art Taylor taught commercial art at the High School of Art & Design in New York City from 1963 to 1989, serving as acting chairman during the 1980–1981 academic year. He also served as an adjunct lecturer in commercial art at New York City Community College of the City University of New York from 1967 to 1974.

Death Taylor died on November 21, 2014, at the age of 89.

Family Taylor married Helena Roine in September 1963. Together they had two children.