World-renowned pop artist Peter Max has painted a new portrait of Taylor Swift to commemorate her newest album, Speak Now, which was certified Triple-Platinum by the RIAA this week. And next week, Max’s iconic portraiture of 4-time Grammy winner Swift will be available to the public for the first time.
The Speak Now portrait is Max’s second time to immortalize Taylor’s album art -- he unveiled a series of four portraits of her Fearless album earlier this year in a series of gallery showings. Max has gifted his first Fearless original work to Taylor, but now the Max portraits, from both Fearless and Speak Now, are available as poster artwork and as commissioned originals. Starting Sunday (December 12th) Max’s Taylor Swift works will be sold exclusively in the TaylorSwift.com Online Store.
The Max / Swift relationship began when Max painted a portrait of Taylor’s Fearless album cover upon learning that Taylor was launching her 2010 Fearless tour in Tampa the same week that he had a gallery showing there. “I've been doing portraits of iconic musicians for so many years, and it is a pleasure to add Taylor Swift to the collection,” says Max. “She is one of the most beautiful and talented stars we have today.”
Taylor was thrilled when she learned of Max’s interest in doing the portrait, as she is a lifelong fan of his, having often seen his work on display in the Ocean Gallery in Stone Harbor, New Jersey. Swift remembered walking past the gallery window many times as a child and young teen, and was often stopped in her tracks by the vibrancy of Max’s works.
Max’s Fearless portraits have been featured in several gallery exhibitions, but were not available for sale. His Speak Now portrait has not been shown prior to today.
With paintings on exhibition in hundreds of museums and galleries worldwide, Peter Max and his vibrant colors have become part of the fabric of contemporary culture. Max has been successively called a Pop Icon, Neo Fauvist, Abstract Expressionist and the United States’ "Painter Laureate."
Max has a long-standing career as the preeminent Pop artist in America, and is the country’s most well known and most collected artist. He has achieved his place in history having painted for various Heads of State. Often incorporating iconic symbols of America into his work, Max has painted for six U.S. presidents, created the official artwork and poster for the Clinton Inauguration, his "Flag With Heart" impressionistic paintings of the American flag are in permanent installations in the Carter, Reagan and Bush presidential libraries in addition to his statue of Liberty paintings, which have become an annual painting tradition since America's Bicentennial, in 1976 and led to Max playing a lead role in the renovation of the Statue of Liberty. From art that appeared on the first U.S. 10-cent stamp bearing the title “Preserve the Environment,” to 235 U.S. Border murals greeting millions of people entering America each year
courtesy of www. taylorswift.com
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