This page includes a short biography and an introduction to Michael’s portraiture.
Chronological summary
Below this tabular overview of Michael’s career is a list of his one-man shows.
| 1952 | Born Worthing, Sussex |
| 1969–70 | Worthing College of Art |
| 1970–73 | Goldsmiths School of Art, BA Hons |
| 1975 | Moved to cottage near Haworth, Yorkshire |
| 1978 | Moved to Dorset |
| 1974–90 | Exhibited variously at Royal Academy, Florence Art Gallery, Royal West of England Academy, .B.A., Hunting Group, Mall Galleries, Morley Gallery |
| 1981 | John Player Award Finalist, National Portrait Gallery, London |
| 1982 | John Player Award Finalist (Commended), National Portrait Gallery, London |
| 1983 | Winner, National Portrait Gallery John Player Award (now BP Award), National Portrait Gallery, London |
| 1984 | Commissioned National Portrait Gallery, London: Julian Bream Subsequent portrait commissions including at Christchurch Hall Oxford, Robinson College Cambridge, Southampton University, Church House Oxford |
| 1988 | Third Prize, Hunting Group Art Prizes, Mall Galleries |
| 1989 | Winner of Millfield Open Art Competition |
| 1991 | Mixed Summer Exhibition, Beaux Arts, Bath |
| 1992–97 | Art Fairs, Business Design Centre, Islington |
| 1996 | Commissioned National Portrait Gallery, London: Baroness P D James |
| 1999 | P D James portrait loaned to 10 Downing Street |
| 2001 | Exhibited Royal Society of Portrait Painters Exhibition, Mall Galleries Elected member of Royal Society of Portrait Painters Couple with lamp selected for display in National Portrait Gallery, London Painted portrait of Sir John Tavener – acquired by National Portrait Gallery, London |
| 2002 | Winner of Changing Faces prize at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters exhibition: Sir John Tavener Winner of Holburne Portrait Prize at the Holburne Museum of Art in Bath: Couple with LampChannel 4 television programme In Your Face on PD James portrait |
| 2003 | Sarah Muffett, Ordinand unveiled as part of People’s Portraits , Girton College , Cambridge Portrait of Andy Sheppard unveiled at the Holburne Museum of Art , Bath |
| 2005 | Winner of the Lark Trust Award at the Royal West of England Academy , Bristol: Portrait with Grave Goods |
| 2006 | Art London Art Fair, Chelsea, London grl rsting on swvl chr purchased for permanent collection of Scheringa Museum voor Realisme, Hoorn, Netherlands International Fine Art Fair, Palm Beach, Florida, with Waterhouse & Dodd |
| 2007 | Portrait of the former Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer commissioned by and for The House of Lords (of the UK parliament), unveiled 9 July International Fine Art Fair, Palm Beach, Florida, with Waterhouse & Dodd Art20, Armory, New York, with Waterhouse & Dodd |
| 2008 | Portrait with Grave Goods and Model Steam Engine purchased for permanent collection of Scheringa Museum voor Realisme, Hoorn, Netherlands |
| 2011 | Miami International Art Fair, Miami Beach, Florida, with Waterhouse & Dodd Waterhouse and Dodd Group Show, Greene Street Gallery, New York |
| 2012 | Drawing Self Portrait (In Memory of my Father) acquired by National Portrait Gallery, London |
| 2014 | Boy with Apple (commissioned in 2012) featured in Wes Anderson film, The Grand Budapest Hotel |
| 2015 | Self Portrait (In Memory of my Father) shown at Turner Contemporary, Margate |
| 2018 | Exhibited Royal Society of Portrait Painters Exhibition, Mall Galleries: Figure with Box wins Smallwood Architects Prize |
| 2023 | Exhibited Royal Society of Portrait Painters Exhibition, Mall Galleries: Caroline with Pine Cone |
One-man Exhibitions
A list of the significant one-man shows during Michael’s career.
| 1983 | Morley Gallery, London |
| 1983 | Quay Art Centre, Isle of Wight |
| 1984 | Worthing Museum and Art Gallery |
| 1993 | Beaux Arts, London |
| 1997 | Beaux Arts, London |
| 2002 | Dorset Art Weeks (Recent Work and Heads) |
| 2004 | Dorset Art Weeks (New Works) |
| 2006 | Waterhouse and Dodd, London |
| 2010 | Waterhouse and Dodd, London |
| 2015 | Waterhouse and Dodd, London |
| 2020 | Waterhouse and Dodd, London |
| 2022 | The Art Stable, Child Okeford, Dorset |
Biography
Michael works quietly and carefully on one painting at a time, spending about three months over each composition.
On graduating from Goldsmiths School of Art in 1973, he determined to devote his time to working at a single canvas, while funding himself by working evenings at a pub in Greenwich. When the picture was completed, and after a period of reflection, he created another. These were subsequently exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Encouraged by the response, and selling both pictures, he decided to give up the pub job. He has continued to produce his extraordinary paintings, more or less without a break, until the present.
With his wife Caroline, he moved in 1975 to a stone cottage on the edge of the Yorkshire moors, near Haworth. After the birth of their daughter, Ellen (1976), the family moved to a disused chapel in Dorset. In 1980, their son, Richard, was born. Caroline and Michael lived in an old pub in the Dorset village of Child Okeford. In 2017, they moved to Fordington, which is now part of the county town of Dorchester.
His chosen way of working inevitably leads to a certain complexity of content that only reveals itself with time and familiarity. As Mary Rose Beaumont wrote in the catalogue introduction to his first one man exhibition at Beaux Arts:
Because he works slowly and concentratedly on a single picture at a time, the paintings mark the passage of time within themselves and are a record of the infinitesimal changes in the artist himself who is, as are we all, subject to change and decay. Moreover the paintings do not simply record what is seen, but also what might be seen with the inner eye. They represent thoughts and feelings that are not visible ….. Taylor’s paintings are not for the ten second viewer. They are for the individual who is prepared to let them enter his bloodstream, who will return again and again to savour the slow release quality of these remarkable paintings.
Portraiture
Michael Taylor is a figurative painter, who has been producing his carefully and thoughtfully composed oil paintings since he left Goldsmith’s College School of Art, in 1973.
His portraits are well known for their insight and intensity — images of many of these works may be found on this site. Winner of the prestigious John Player Award (now BP Portrait Award), Michael has three portrait paintings and one pencil drawing in the National Portrait Gallery (London) collection. His work can also be found in many notable institutional and private collections. These include the fine portrait collection at Christchurch Hall (Oxford), Church House (Oxford), Southampton University, Robinson College (Cambridge) and the House of Lords (of the UK Parliament).
Portraiture has consistently been a vital element of his work. The portraits benefit from the attention and commitment that he invests in all his paintings. Michael was elected a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 2001.
Michael’s pencil drawing, Self Portrait (In Memory of my Father) was acquired by The National Portrait Gallery, London in February, 2012.
Commissioned by the House of Lords (of the UK Parliament), Michael painted Charles Falconer when he was the Lord Chancellor, This portrait, which hangs in the House, was unveiled on 9 July 2007.
Michael’s Portrait with Grave Goods won the Lark Trust Award 2005, at the Royal West of England Academy. This painting was subsequently acquired by the prestigious Scheringa Museum of Realist Art, Spanbroek, Netherlands.
Michael’s painting, Couple with Lamp, won the Holburne Contemporary Portrait Prize, 2002. This award is organised by the Holburne Museum of Art in Bath, England. This lead to a commission to paint jazz saxophonist, Andy Sheppard for their permanent collection.
Michael’s portrait of Sir John Tavener won the Changing Faces prize at the 2002 Royal Society of Portrait Painters exhibition. The prize is awarded for the portrait that is most outstanding in the way it communicates with the viewer. The Sir John Tavener portrait was acquired by the National Portrait Gallery in 2002.
I liked the strength and originality of his compositions and the authority with which he used colour….. It is a powerful painting which I much admire.
Baroness P D James, on the painting of herself by the artist
In it’s way a minor masterpiece, the portrait [of P D James] itself could hardly be more compelling, Taylor’s acute observation recording a vivid likeness
Robin Gibson, then Chief Curator, National Portrait Gallery, London
This ability to capture the character of the sitter as well as the moment in time is what makes a good portrait. Michael Taylor’s painting of Renata Symonds, a nonagenarian Jungian psychotherapist, projects a lifetime of gravitas in her wise, intense gaze. But he had caught something else, a certain intellectual impatience, characterized by the swing of her hair, the angle of her head and her askew pearl necklace.
The Times
The most striking portrait, for my money, is Michael Taylor’s oil of Julian Bream. For ten minutes I sat and gazed at it and felt I knew Bream. What surprised me was the rather formidable, almost morose, look in the eye….. There is in that portrait something different…..
Sir Alec Guiness
When he had finished the painting, I was very pleased with what he had done. What I admired about him was that he was very sure of himself … his sense of composition was good, and I also liked his sense of colour.
Julian Bream
It is exactly how I feel inside when I am composing.
Sir John Tavener, on first seeing the portrait of himself by the artist
It is how I shall look when I am laid out in my coffin.
Sir John Tavener, on seeing the portrait of himself for the second time
Although his time is usually heavily committed, Michael does accept portrait commissions. If you are considering the commissioning of a portrait from him, you may get in touch via the Contact page of this site. He will be pleased to discuss it with you.
