Taylor Swift Goes Pop Art With Peter Max Portrait
No, you cannot buy the Peter Max portrait of Taylor Swift. Reports that it exists are very much true. But reports that it is for sale are not. I mean, I'm sure it would pull in a lot of money from someone who loves Swift. Max is the very iconic pop artist who was the It Artist throughout the '60s and beyond, with his colorful, cosmic and psychedelic style. Swift remembers noticing his work when she was just a little girl on summer vacations. The Tampa Tribune used the portrait in advance of her Fearless concert stop there, and she later told the publication, "The colors were so vibrant and beautiful! His art is like another world to me, and I can't even explain how much it means to me that he did my portrait."
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Vera says:
It’s beautiful!! Good things happen to Good people, Taylor is fortunate to have Max do a portrait of her.
homeslice says:
Key word “pop”
Jessica says:
lol @ homeslice i agree “pop” this is a country music website.
Carrie Rocks!
dowhat says:
loves like someone vomited
dowhat says:
looks*
Cassie says:
Who Cares
i do if you don’t ignore it.
And I think it’s cool that he did a picture of her.
D Trotter says:
Key word: “iconic”.
Just the fact someone like Peter Max would give Swift his psychedelic art treatment is more proof of Taylor becoming a cultural icon — “a person whose image has great cultural significance to a wide group of people”.
lifetime says:
taylor is awsome!
YGrove says:
Taylor is an Icon to 12 year olds,blame the Parents,they spent the money for her rise in fame,and yes she will dump those little girls the same way Miley is with her so called change of heart about Country.
D Trotter says:
Taylor’s fans include men and women well beyond 12-year-old’s. What possible reason would make her dump any of the fans who love her and have made her a superstar?
And why would anyone “blame” the parents of 12-year-old kids who DO like her? Younger fans looking up to a young woman who works hard, DOESN”T act like a diva, and who consistently demonstrates incredible character in ADDITION to her impressive talent seems like a positive thing for parents to support.
If there’s any BLAME to be cast, maybe it should go to the cyberbulliess trying to tear an outstanding role model.
Sis says:
Bo Gus nice lol!!! key word POP!!!!
barb b says:
i would not want her portrait in my
house
homeslice says:
I started out liking her, then thinking she was talentless, then overexposed, and then in January I gave her a shot and got her albums and although I could still pick out flaws, I overlooked it because she was just so sweet and charming and then I found out who she actually was. And then came the Grammy performance, which was just plain torture. So because she really lacks in the talent department and because her entire image is contrived, not a big fan.
Vera says:
@Homeslice
‘Contrived’…Miley really gave you a boost. Miley FTW!!
HATERS to the LEFT. WHY did god have to CREATE HATERS? WE don’t need them, the world is a better place without them (HATERS)
D Trotter says:
“And people without dreams
They walk the extra mile …
All the people who don’t fit
Get the only fun they get
From people puttin’ people down …
People puttin’ people down.”
John Prine, “People Puttin’ People Down”
Alan fan says:
excuse me Vera but I think you just became one of the haters. or is it just a matter of who you hate?
Vera says:
Am not a Hater, never been. You can check all my posts, never have I brought an artiste down. I understand people not liking an artiste, for instance I don’t like Lady gaga and Carrie but I don’t even bother going to their blogs neither do I put them down. I only put HATERS down.
Sis says:
Vera you’re real scary. LOL!!! I’m so scared.
Katie says:
Well I like the picture. It’s cool, and I’m kind of a fan of that style of picture. Obviously Taylor is grateful for the portrait being done, and at the very least, maybe knowledge of it being doen will open up a whole new form of art and genre and decade to younger fans who don’t know about Peter Max.
GalPal says:
“Just the fact someone like Peter Max would give Swift his psychedelic art treatment” just means he is trying to latch on to the cash cow-the current trend. Please another publicity angle for Swift to keep her in the spotlight for the tweens! And the icing on the cake is that men and women beyond the age of 12 are fans of her-OMG! What an idiotic statement that is. I am sure they are the parents of the tweens and they have to buy the CD for them. Enough said-another high school angst statement that we have seen through!
countryway says:
“TAYLOR SIFT HAS SWEPT THE NATIONAL POP SCENE”.
Not one word that she’s a country music artist. Says it all, don’t it?
Shadow says:
Very simple explanation for that, countryway. All music played on the industry run commercial radio is pop, no matter what the genre. She’s pop country. No other form of country music recognizes her music..
D Trotter says:
GalPal, all you need to do is read the blog comments of the last year, or the concert reviews and comments, to know that my statement that Swift has many fans, both men and women, from 8-to-80 years old is not an “idiotic statement” as you so rudely described it. I don’t know the exact number I’ve read from enthusiastic Swift fans who were 40, 50, 60 years or older, but it was A LOT!! Want me to print a batch for you?
Sure, her primary demographic — AT LEAST AT HER CONCERTS — is female, from pre-teens to college age. And no one denies that many older adults became fans by taking their young kids to her shows, only to come away astonished at what a terrific performer and artist she is.
To like Swift, all that’s necessary is a mind that isn’t closed off and jaded to her optimistic world view and her youthful spirit and romanticism. Many of those comments from 70-year-old fans show them to be folks who are forever young of heart and life-affirming … much more so than some of the bitter, cynical negative types who continually bash a 20-year-old girl whose biggest crime is bringing joy to her fans.
D Trotter says:
Oh, and GalPal, it makes perfect sense for Peter Max to do a portrait Of Swift.
Among his other famous posters:
The Statue of Liberty
the Beatles
Bob Dylan
the word “Love”
and a giant HEART
All in bright, happy Day-Glo colors … just like Taylor!
lifetime says:
TAYLOR SWIFT HAS SWEPT THE NATIONAL COUNTRY AND POP SCENE. is what alot of reviews and articles have said about taylor’s tour and her amazing FEARLESS CD which was named the most awarded cd of all time in COUNTRY MUSIC!!! that’s is all us taylor fans need to no..and we LOVE IT!
ALJID says:
“TAYLOR SWIFT HAS SWEPT THE NATIONAL COUNTRY AND POP SCENE.”
lifetime has edited the line. Buwahahahaahahaha!
NewtoCountry says:
D Trotter….I agree 100%..well said
Robin says:
D Trotter - she is not Peter Pan. She is not a “20 year old girl”. She is a grown woman singing about being “Fifteen”. If you don’t think that is ridiculous, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t. The topics of her last album is the exact same topic of her first album. There is nothing groundbreaking or earth shattering about “Fearless”. It is a shallow pop mess.
It is absolutely the most popular album last year. Her star is alrady fading. So, her “star” needed to be replaced by solid “art”. And, she just has not done that. MAYBE her next album will be a solid work of art. I’m hoping she understands that instead of trying to feed the beast more junk about being in High School.
D Trotter says:
You keep making this same comment, Robin. I mean, c’mon, you know as well as anyone that the songs on “TAYLOR SWIFT” were written between the ages of 12 and 16 — an amazing accomplishment — and that the songs on “FEARLESS” were written between 16 1nd 18.
The topics are entirely age-appropriate, BECAUSE THEY ARE HER SONGS … WRITTEN ABOUT HER LIFE … IN REAL TIME … just like REASL Country songs are supposed to be. They are her diary, set to glorious musical hooks and internal rhymes. The topics are far from being one-dimensional, as you like to portray —- there is an impressive array of topics, some having nothing to do with boys but rather about being a young woman.
Moreover, her songs are written with detail, passion, integrity, vulnerability, and with a sense of independence and pride in her own feminine strength, and that has made her songs relevant and very real to millions of her peers from 12-to-20, many of whom seem to feel Taylor is writing THEIR story as well.
You may choose to find nothing special in all that, Robin, but I do, and in my opinion nobody else has EVER connected with so many young females, as their very own spokesperson, so dynamically.
Taylor doesn’t write about philandering husbands, drunken weekends, middle-age meltdowns behind the wheel, or fiancees slain in battle … because she hasn’t HAD those experiences, it wouldn’t be real for her. Writing about a juvenile time of life doesn’t make the writing itself juvenile, only the topic. Was Mark Twain juvenile? If the story is written well, it makes you feel the EMOTIONS she felt at that AGE … and Taylor does that.
And enough with this “Taylor is 20 now, she should write like a mature old lady” bit. You have kids — how mature was 20?? If anything, Taylor is a little less experienced, especially when it comes to partying, than most college gals, so I don’t know how you expect her topics to change so drastically.
I appreciate that Taylor holds no significance for you, but she does for millions of others, and they are the people for whom she is writing and performing. For you, there are many other artists. Surely not every artist has to mold their work just to please you, Robin.
S says:
So Taylor remembers noticing his work when she was just a little girl on summer vacations. Don’t tell me, it’s always been HER DREAM to have him do a portrait of her.
sarahsmile says:
“To like Swift, all that’s necessary is a mind that isn’t closed off and jaded to her optimistic world view and her youthful spirit and romanticism”.
LOL - “To like Swift”, all that’s necessary is a tin ear.
barb b says:
taylor has more dreams than
carter has liver pills
barb b says:
taylor has more dreams than
carter has liver pills
Janice says:
FYI for those interested. It is the concensus of opinion (at least on the internet) that while Peter Max is an iconic artist, his current work has become quite manufactured. The following is a quote by a reputable art dealer in NYC. “Nowadays when I think of Peter Max, I think of all the hastily done paintings he does, several per day up there in his studio, so many of which I have seen on board cruise ships and though I find his new style amusing, I wouldn’t want one of his new ones.”
So those of you that think this is some huge coup for Taylor…think again.
Peacock Queen says:
To Janice,
I am glad you pointed that out. When I looked at the Max painting of Swift, I was very surprised. You can scan any photo of anyone into a computer, use a Photoshop feature to change the colors and shading to “poster” the print, and get the same results. I didn’t see anything so remarkable about it. An eight-year-old with a computer and Photoshop could do the same thing. Not remarkable at all. And I am not slamming Swift, I am just saying that this type of image/painting could be done by anyone with computer skills/Photoshop training of anyone, not just a singing artist.
D Trotter says:
Your point is a good one, Peacock. Many pop artists are more like graphic designers who find some neat way to present a visual idea — for example, through a prism effect or some new way of looking at an everyday object. Perhaps a realistic painting of a common soup can or a banana that screams its very essence at you.
In fairness to Max, though he may never challenge Warhol or some others in his importance to modern art, Peter was THE artist of the psychedelic movement, and his legacy is assured. His renderings of the Beatles, the Statue of Liberty, the word “LOVE”, the Dylan with psychedelic hair — these were (and REMAIN) the defining visuals of the ’60’s and ’70’s! But what Artists, in any medium, have remained as vital as they were 40-to-50 years ago?
When looking at the work of artistic icons — whether it be the films of Alfred Hitchcock, the guitar riffs of Chuck Berry, or the paintings of Max — it’s important to remember they INVENTED the ABC’s, the things that became cliches by constant emulation. Before Peter, NOBODY used colors like that!!
For those reasons, I am less impressed with Janice’s points, which likely were only made as a weak attempt to lessen the significance of one more honor given to Ms Swift. I have no idea what “consensus of opinion (at least on the internet)” even means (a bunch of bloggers?), but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t lessen his historical importance.
Even beyond his key period of influence, Max was THE artist for such events as the World’s Fair, the Super Bowel, The Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame, and the Grammy’s, and his depictions of virtually every US President in the last 50 years (up to and including Obama) are very highly-regarded.
So, Swift getting a portrait treatment … yeah, it kinda IS a big deal!
D Trotter says:
UMMM… I meant “Super BOWL”, LOL!
Peacock Queen says:
Thanks, Trotter. I am not a psychedelic art lover, and not very familiar with Peter Max. It sounds as though he has had a very rewarding career. However, I would have liked the painting better if it had been his own interpretation of Swift, but it really looks as though he simply scanned the photo above on this blog and “posterized” it.
jordyn dietzler says:
i love taylor swift
Jordyn Dietzler says:
She is the Best
Jordyn Dietzler says:
my favorite singer ever
The Max collector says:
Peter Max manages to always depict who’s on the top… obviously Taylor is one of them