D Day Airborne Assault Robert Taylor Ltd. Ed. Print

  

A Robert Taylor Signed Limited Edition Lithograph entitled D-Day - The Airborne Assault, commemorating the 50th anniversary of D-Day, 1994, showing P-51B Mustangs escort C-47 Dakotas towing CG-4 Waco gliders, over the Normandy beaches on D-Day. It began in pitch darkness. June 6, 1944 was only a few minutes old when the Airborne Pathfinders drifted silently down from the sky above the fields of Normandy.

At first their seemed nothing untoward about the drone of aircraft in the night sky. The German garrisons in Northern France were used to the noise of aircraft overhead after dark, but this night seemed particularly busy.

Looking skyward a German sentry caught sight of parachutes floating down, clearly visible as the moon fleetingly broke through the clouds. For an instant he thought it was the crew jumping from a damaged bomber, but when he saw the mass of canopies floating earthwards, he knew it was no ordinary event. Within moments of raising the alarm the crackle of automatic gunfire confirmed his worst fears: The Invasion of France had begun. The first assault upon Hitler's'Fortress Europe' came from the sky.

Shortly after midnight waves of aircraft and gliders delivered three Divisions of elite airborne troops into Normandy, their crucial objectives to seize vital bridges, secure strategic positions and clear the way for the comming aerial armada. As the first streaks of dawn came over the horizon on that historic day, and with American and British paratroops already engaged in furious fire fights, the mighty amphibious armada began landing on the beaches of Normandy. Above them waves of troop-carrying aircraft towing glideres stretched from the coast of France all the way back to England. Closely escorted by fighters, they delivered over 20,000 highly trained men into the battlefield of Northern France. By nightfall the first phase of the greatest military invasion in history was complete.

Five Divisions were were ashore and the Allies had established a toehold in occupied Europe. For the Third Reich it was the beginning of the end. Without the advanced airborne assault, and the air supremacy achieved by the escort fighters, the amphibious landings could have been a disaster. It was therefore an appropriate choice for artist Robert Taylor to depict the airborne troop carriers and escort fighters of the ninth Air Force in his remarkable aviation painting commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion.

Already hailed by D-Day luminaries as the most realistic portrayed rendered by an artist depicting events of June 6, 1944, the world's premier aviation artist has undoubtedly painted a masterpiece. This print shows the C-47 Dakotas of the 438th Troop Carrier Group towing CG-4 Waco gliders, closely escorted by P-51Bs of the 354 Fighter Group as they cross the Normandy beaches.

Below, landing craft swarm ashore putting men and equipment on the beaches, and everything about this spectacular print brings alive the events of that historic day a half a century ago. A superb collectors piece with which to remember D-Day, 1944. The name Robert Taylor has been synonymous with aviation art over a quarter of a century. His paintings of aircraft, more than those of any other artist, have helped popularise a genre which at the start of this remarkable artist's career had little recognition in the world of fine art. When he burst upon the scene in the mid-1970s his vibrant, expansive approach to the subject was a revelation.

His paintings immediately caught the imagination of enthusiasts and collectors alike. He became an instant success. Robert's aviation paintings are instantly recognisable.

He somehow manages to convey all the technical detail of aviation in a traditional and painterly style, reminiscent of the Old Masters. With uncanny ability, he is able to recreate scenes from the past with a carefully rehearsed realism that few other artists ever manage to achieve.

This is partly due to his prodigious research but also his attention to detail: Not for him shiny new factory-fresh aircraft looking like museum specimens. His trade mark, flying machines that are battle-scarred, worse for wear, with dings down the fuselage, chips and dents along the leading edges of wings, oil stains trailing from engine cowlings, paintwork faded with dust and grime; his planes are real!

Robert's aviation works have drawn crowds in the international arena since the early 1980s. He has exhibited throughout the US and Canada, Australia, Japan and in Europe. His one-man exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC was hailed as the most popular art exhibition ever held there. His paintings hang in many of the world's great aviation museums, adorn boardrooms, offices and homes, and his limited edition prints are avidly collected all around the world. THIS PRINT IS OUT OF AN EDITION OF 1000 AND IS APPROXIMATELY 28 X 17.

It has never been framed and is in mint condition.