Despite his artistic prowess, Taggart’s choice to embrace commercial work at a time when abstraction dominated the fine art world led to his exclusion from mainstream fine art discourse. For decades, much of his oeuvre remained unseen.
Born in Stockport, England, in 1954, Taggart moved to Los Angeles in his early twenties, captivated by the city’s radiant light and vibrant energy—so unlike the village where he grew up in South West England. Drawn to LA’s warmth, creative industries, and freethinking community, he quickly developed a lifelong bond with the city.
As an outsider, Taggart brought a fresh perspective, crafting visuals for New West, Esquire, The New Yorker, and album covers for The Beach Boys, Richard Pryor, and Loggins and Messina. His work became a defining export of LA’s distinctive style, reaching global audiences and embodying the city’s sunlit allure.