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Robert Taylor Naval Art
Naval Art  Artists  Robert Taylor |
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| 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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Chance Encounter by Robert Taylor. December 7, 1941 was, said President Roosevelt a day of infamy. The surprise attack by Japanese aircraft on that fateful day, brought America into a war that was to become global. The Japanese airstrike was the first of many attacks that day against America and other Allied Forces in the Pacific. Within a few days the British capital ships Prince of Wales and Repulse were sunk, the Japanese had landed on the coast of Malaya, Guam was seized, Hong Kong taken, and landings were made in the American held Philippines. In those first grim days of the Pacific War one territory after another quickly fell to the Japanese onrush - resistance, though heroic, was almost futile as the unprepared Allies were simply overwhelmed. Retaliating as best they could, Allied Forces hit back wherever possible and one of the first successes was by Dutch Forces on 23 December, just 16 days after Pearl Harbor. A Japanese invasion fleet had been spotted steaming south towards British Borneo. Royal Netherlands Navy submarine K XIV, alerted to their position, was heading west in order to make an interception. But the Japanese changed course on to an easterly heading during the night and made for the beaches off Ktiching - the opposite direction to that of the submarine. However a patrolling Dornier 24 of the Royal Netherlands Navy sighted the fleet on its new course, and by a remarkable chance encounter also spotted the submarine on the surface, and immediately signalled the location, course and speed of the convoy. The submarine quickly engaged the Japanese in the shallow waters off the landing beach head, causing chaos amongst the fleet. Two ships were sunk and another two severely damaged. The Dornier, despite being heavily engaged by Pete floatplanes from a Japanese heavy cruiser, managed to return safely to base. |
Flying Cloud by Robert Taylor. The American Clipper Flying Cloud arrives at Hong Kong in May 1860, 97 days out of London. En-route to Foochow, she will load tea for the return voyage. Of all the famous American Clippers Flying Cloud had by far the best record. |
Hornblower and the Indefatigable by Robert Taylor. Winter in the Bay of Biscay brings ferocious gales and bitter cold discomfort for ships crews aboard the British frigate Indefatigable. Horatio Hornblower, C.S. Forresters dashing eighteenth-century naval officer, experienced the worst of conditions at sea while serving the arduous task of blockading the ports off the west coast of France. The excitement of battle came as welcome relief. Roberts magnificent painting depicts an exchange of cannon fire between Indefatigable - on the left - and a 40-gun French frigate attempting to run the blockade on a chill winters morning. Moments later the two hulls crashed alongside each other, and the Frenchman was boarded and taken. |
Barque Glenogil off Liverpool Pierhead, 1900 by Robert Taylor. The four-masted barque Glenogil passes Liverpool pierhead as she is towed up the Mersey. Paddle steamers in the foreground are seen embarking passengers for the river crossing in this busy harbour scene. |
Titanic by Robert Taylor. Passengers aboard the Isle of Wight ferry gaze in wonder as RMS Titanic steams majestically down the Solent at the outset of her maiden voyage, April 15, 1912. |
Battleship Row - The Aftermath by Robert Taylor. No text for this item |
Peaceful Anchorage by Robert Taylor Ships of the East Asiatic Squadron at anchor in a Pacific Island bay prior to the outbreak of hostilities in 1914. The ships are, left to right, light cruisers Nurnberg and Dresden, cruiser Gneisenau and von Spees flagship Scharnhorst. |
Battle of the Nile by Robert Taylor. Robert Taylor's dramatic painting depicts the Battle of the Nile at about 1800 hours on August 1, 1798. Having caught Napoleon's French Fleet completely by surprise in Aboukir Bay, Vice-Admiral Nelson engaged at 1700 hours. Many of Napoleon's crew were ashore or visiting other ships, and the painting depicts the frantic efforts of crews to rejoin their own ships, immediately following Nelson's attack. |
The Battle of Trafalgar by Robert Taylor. Robert Taylors magnificent painting shows Victory breaking through the enemy line at 1.00pm 21st October 1805. A broadside has crippled Admiral Villeneuves French flagship Bucentaure, seen off Victorys port side, while Nelsons gunners fire a second broadside into the Santisima Trinidad. Just astern, the Temeraire manoeuvres to trap the Redoubtable between herself and Victory, and thus seal her fate. |
Mission Beyond Darkness by Robert Taylor Following the attack against Admiral Ozawas Japanese carrier fleet on June 20, 1944, Admiral Mitscher defies all rules of naval engagement: In total darkness, with the ever-present danger of enemy submarines, he orders every ship in his Task Force 58 to switch on lights to guide over 100 returning carrier-borne aircraft, all desperately low on fuel. Amid the confusion, unable to get a landing slot aboard the USS Lexington, and now out of fuel, a pilot and his gunner scramble from their ditched SB2B Curtiss Helldiver, as a Fletcher class destroyer manoeuvres to make the pick up. |
Loch Etive on the Firth by Robert Taylor. The windjammer Loch Etive departs Glasgow on October 15, 1892, bound for Sydney, Australia. After a round-trip lasting six and a half months, she will return to London with a cargo of wool. Looking across the Firth towards Glasgow the waters are busy with coastal craft. |
Sighting the Bismarck by Robert Taylor. In the early hours of May 24, 1941, as the mighty German battleships Bismarck and Prinz Eugen slipped through the Denmark Strait, they were dramatically intercepted by the Royal Navy battleships Hood and Prince of Wales. Within six minutes of the first salvo being fired, the Hood, pride of the Royal Navy, was blown out of the water in one of the most gigantic explosions ever witnessed at sea. Bismarcks fourth salvo landed a shell forward of the Hoods after turrets, piercing her deck, exploding the 4-inch magazine. Simultaneously this detonated the adjacent 15-inch magazine, and in one mighty eruption the battleship broke in two. Within seconds she was gone. Of the ships company of 1400 officers and sailors only three survived. Outraged at the grievous loss Winston Churchill signaled the Admiralty just three words: Sink the Bismarck! Thus began one of the epic sea chases in the history of naval warfare. Damaged by shells from the Prince of Wales 14-inch guns and losing fuel oil, Admiral Lutjens broke off the engagement and steamed Bismarck towards the anonymity of the North Atlantic. Evading the British warships for 32 hours he had hopes of reaching the safety of Brest, but when spotted by a Catalina of RAF Coastal Command, Lutjens knew it was the beginning of the end for the mighty German warship. When an attack by Ark Royals Swordfish torpedo planes jammed her rudder Bismarcks fate was sealed. As she limped haphazardly through the waves trailing oil, the Home Fleet closed in for the final encounter. Overwhelmed by British guns and torpedoes, Bismarcks crew fought a gallant last battle, but the odds were too great. Watching Bismarcks final moments from King George Vs bridge, Admiral Tovey said: She put up a noble fight against impossible odds, worthy of the old days of the Imperial German Navy. |
Operation Cerberus by Robert Taylor Portrayal of the Channel Dash - three German ships Scharnhorst, Gneisenau embark from Brest, France returning to home ports encounter their own mines. |
Titanic - Last Farewell by Robert Taylor. It was a bitterly cold, crystal clear night and the sea was flat and calm. In the crow's nest of RMS Titanic, four days out from Southampton, two vigilant lookouts shivered uncomfortably, the warmth of their breath steaming in the freezing air. With warnings of ice ahead they were both tense and alert, they had to be, especially as no-one had seen fit to issue them with binoculars. And then, at 11.40pm, they saw it dead ahead - an iceberg. With adrenalin pumping through their veins they rang the warning bell and hailed the bridge. As the First Officer urgently ordered 'hard-a-starboard' and put the engines into reverse, thirty-seven seconds slowly passed. Imperceptibly the Titanic began to turn, but it was too late. The lookouts could only stare in horror as the ship's starboard side struck the deadly ice. An ominous shudder ran through Titanic. Those passengers still awake glanced anxiously at one another - surely nothing could be amiss since this was the safest ship in the world, 'practically unsinkable' her owners had said, designed to float ever if three of her sixteen bulkheads were full of water. But now six were punctured and filling fast, Titanic was sinking. 'Practically unsinkable' had also meant that only twenty lifeboats had been installed, principally there to rescue others from sinking ships. Only when the final order to 'Abandon Ship' was given did the passengers realise there were nowhere near enough lifeboats to go round. In the tradition of the sea it would be a case of 'women and children first'. With tearful, heart-wrenching good-byes husbands said farewell to their families and stood bravely to await their fate, knowing their own chance of survival was probably zero. In the lifeboats the survivors could hardly bear to watch as the ship slowly died, her lights disappearing one by one until, just after a quarter past two in the morning, her stern suddenly reared and Titanic plunged to her watery grave. Over 1500 passengers and crew died with her. A few days earlier, however, the scene had been so different. The bands had played, the streamers flew and the crowds had cheered as the world's newest and largest liner slipped away from the White Star berth at Southampton for her maiden voyage to New York. RMS Titanic was a majestic sight as she sailed down Southampton Water and into the Solent accompanied by a flotilla of all shapes and sizes. This is the moment that Robert Taylor has chosen for this magnificent new painting. As some of the world's wealthiest people promenade on the deck to admire the occasion, others sipped their cocktails in opulent staterooms. The White Star had spared no expense for their important First Class passengers. |
Voyage into Destiny by Robert Taylor. Leaving the port of Gdynia on May 18th 1941, two large German warships stealthily zig-zagged their way up the coast of Norway at the outset of what was to become one pf the shortest, most fiercely fought naval contests of the Second World War. Operation Rheinubung was under way. With Fleet Commander Admiral Lutjens on the bridge, the brand new battleship Bismarck would leave the relative safety of the Norwegian fjords, destined for the busy shipping lanes in the Atlantic. After refuelling, and in company with the battlecruiser Prinz Eugen, on May 21st the two heavily armed warships headed for the Denmark Strait and out into the wide expanse of the Atlantic. Bound for active convoy routes, Bismarck would play havoc with vital Allied merchant shipping. Faster than almost any warship afloat, the magnificent new 42,000 ton monsters awesome firepower would prove no match for the lightly protected merchantmen or their escorts, as they laboriously plied their desperately needed cargo across the ocean towards Europe. It seemed she was invincible. Within three days of sailing, Bismarcks first encounter was a triumph! Intercepted south west of Iceland by the British Home Fleet, the German battleships gunners went into action for the first time, their second and third salvos striking the battlecruiser Hood. She exploded and sank within three minutes. But Bismarcks success brought the wrath of the Royal Navy upon her and, just three days later, on the morning of May 27th, with her rudder damaged by a torpedo, the pride of the German navy fell to the guns of the British Home Fleet. Outnumbered, she fought bravely, but succumbed, the magnificent new battleships active war lasting less than a week. The battleship Bismarck off the coast of Norway at the start of Operation Rheinubung. Under the watchful eye of Jagdeschwader 77s Me 109 fighters, in company with the battlecruiser Prinz Eugen, and destroyers Hans Lody and Z23, Germanys magnificent new battleship Bismarck is seen manoeuvring near Korsfjord Bergen on May 21, 1941. That evening, with Prinz Eugen, she will leave for Arctic waters, the Denmark Strait, the Atlantic, and destiny. Within days the pride of the German Kriegsmarine will have passed into history. |
Gallant Ohio by Robert Taylor Spitfires of 126 and 185 Squadrons successfully fend off a last desperate attempt by enemy aircraft to sink the crippled American tanker Ohio, still some 80 miles short of the beleaguered island of Malta. Badly damaged and barely afloat the Ohio, assisted by Royal Navy destroyers Penn, (foreground), Bramham (lashed to Ohios port side) and Ledbury, limped into port to a tumultuous welcome, on August 15, 1942. Her vital cargo of fuel kept the islands air defences alive, and ultimately made the island secure. |
Knight's Move by Robert Taylor The awesome battleship Tirpitz under the command of Admiral Schniewind, in company with battleships Scheer and Hipper, setting sail during Operation Rosselsprung, destined for the open sea and the North Atlantic convoy traffic. Messerschmitt Me109s of JG5, based at Petsamo, provide overhead cover while flotilla escort vessels make up the fearsome armada. The magnificent Norwegian mountains provide a spectacular backdrop this comprehensively realistic and stirring World War Two image. |
Night Attack on the Newcastle by Robert Taylor. Hit and run attacks by fast moving German E-Boats were a constant threat to vital Allied shipping in the Mediterranean during the second World War. Often made under cover of darkness, these fast, highly manoeuvrable craft would speed through a convoy, release their torpedoes, and disappear into the night. During the night of 15 June 1942 German E-Boats of the 3rd Flotilla left their Eastern Mediterranean base at Derna to intercept an Allied convoy bound for the island of Malta. Shortly after midnight, under the command of Leutnant Seigfried Wuppermann, the motor torpedo boat S-56 slipped past two Royal Navy escort destroyers to make a stern attack on the British cruiser HMS Newcastle. Alerted to the incoming attack, suddenly a searchlight at Newcastles foremast switched on, illuminating S-56 from stem to stern. Reacting quickly, Wuppermann fired two torpedoes in quick succession from 600 yards, and turned hard to starboard to make good his escape. A second searchlight aboard Newcastle pin-pointed S-56, but by then it was too late. Travelling at 33 knots, under fire from the escorts, S-56 threw out a smoke screen and released depth charges as a distraction, and disappeared into the darkness. Robert Taylors action packed painting shows S-56 some thirty seconds after release of her torpedoes, as the first explodes against the hull of HMS Newcastle. The second will strike a few seconds later. The cruiser, though badly damaged, limped back to Alexandria. |
Scharnhorst at Anchor by Robert Taylor. No text for this item |
Against All Odds by Robert Taylor. Robert Taylors painting protrays the renowned defiance of the U-Boat crews. Caught on the surface by a PBY Catalina the gun crews of a type VIIc U-Boat are quickly into action. The 3.7cm anti-aircraft gun is hurriedly reloaded while on the upper platform the two 2cm anti-aircraft twins take chunks out of the Catalinas tail - enough damage to secure a respite from the attack. Soon they will dive to relative safety beneath the Atlantic swell. |
D-Day Normandy Landings by Robert Taylor. On June 6, 1944, no fewer than 4000 ships landed 133,000 assault troops on the beaches of Normandy. A further 23,000 parachuted in, whilst Allied aircraft flew 14,000 sorties on that historic day. By the end of August 200,000 seamen had transported two million troops across to France. It was the greatest and most successful military invasion in history, which led to the downfall of Hitlers Germany, and the end of the war in Europe. Robert Taylors painting captures the very essence of that herculean battle. The painting is dominated by one of the many large transport ships, lowering her landing craft under bombardment from shore batteries. Barrage balloons flying, this massive fleet sailed into the teeth of the German defences, to land its invasion forces against all odds. |
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