Paul Newman by Nick Taggart

By Mark Kaufman
When Paul Newman died last week, my first thoughts weren’t his films, or his Newman’s Own products, his charitable works, his race car driving or his long-time support for progressive causes. All of those memories did run through my mind, but strangely enough the very first thing that popped up for me was this portrait of Mr. Newman by the artist and designer Nick Taggart. I don’t know why, that’s just the way my mind works. The painting is one of my very favorite pieces from the book Fame by Brad Bennet, Harmony Books 1980. It took me a few days to find the book, and to post this, but I’m glad I was able to track it down. This piece is thirty years old, all I know about Mr. Taggart is that in recent years he has been painting and collaborating on various art projects with his wife Laura Cooper. For some reason this portrait made an impact on me, every bit as much as Mr. Newman’s body of work.