^{Lifeguard (Oil on canvas 20” x 24”)}

Richard Taddei’s Saviours

by Mia Phillips

Richard Taddei’s childhood was spent on the beaches of Long Island. While his friends and family played in the surf, Taddei was more concerned with the lifeguard tower. He began to view the lifeguard as a heroic and sculpted figure, inspired by the sensual male subjects in the artwork of Caravaggio and Botticelli.  The lifeguard and his tower would later appear repeatedly in his paintings, stemming from those early fascinations.

Taddei left Long Island to pursue art and architecture at Pratt Institute and spent those formative years studying the techniques of realism. Through a professor, Taddei was introduced to Edward Melcarth, and the world-renowned painter took him under his wing. Taddei and Melcarth bonded over a shared admiration for Renaissance era realism, and they devoted themselves to the aesthetic. Reflecting on this time, Taddei says, “I felt I had to paint that way, so I was painting that way.” 

Taddei, who will have an exhibition at Greg Salvatori Gallery this week, has been given opportunities to display his artwork on some of the world’s most coveted stages over the course of his five-decade career. He contributed to Melcarth’s mural in the rotunda of the Pierre hotel in New York, painted a mural at the Tavern on the Green, and contributed artwork to Tiffany’s. He even piqued the interest of Jackie Onassis at one event hosted by Tiffany’s, where he was hired to paint backdrops for one of their table shows. 

“I can paint as a realist artist if they want me to,” he says. “That’s how I made the money.” 

While living in New York City, Taddei immersed himself in the vibrant social scene. He remembers frequent nights at Studio 54, bartending gigs in SoHo, working at the Broome Street Bar and Reno Sweeney. He hosted dinner parties and invited notable guests like Paloma Picasso and art critic Robert Hughes. Surrounded by attractive people, Taddei found himself inspired in much the same way he had been by the lifeguards of his youth. “There were bartenders in Manhattan. All these beautiful men would work at the bars, and they were all aspiring models, so it was a perfect environment to get models,” says Taddei.  

A notable spot Taddei patronized was the Stonewall Inn. “It was a very cool club,” he recalls. “It was the only place you could slow dance with another guy, if you can imagine.” When the fight for gay rights intensified right before his eyes, Taddei took to the streets. In 1970, he participated in the first march for gay liberation. Alongside other activists, he marched all the way up Sixth Avenue and up to Central Park, while onlookers stared at them “like circus animals.” Looking back, he reflects, “I’m proud of it, it was a brave thing to do.” 

After his mentor, Edward Melcarth, passed away in 1973, Taddei’s artistic instincts began to pull him in a new direction, away from the realist style they both adhered to. Influenced by his studies in architecture while at school, Taddei began to implement abstract concepts into his traditional realist work. This change wasn’t received well by some artists in his community, especially those who idolized Melcarth’s work. “It scandalized me in a way. I was embarrassed that I was unfaithful to realism and turning my back on the past,” says Taddei. Still, he had to honor the intuition he was experiencing on canvas. “You can idolize the past, but you have to find your own path,” he adds. 

This led to him deconstructing his realist-style portraits, until they took on geometrical and abstract forms. Taddei describes the process: “I just twist and turn them like a puzzle.” 

What has remained constant throughout Taddei’s work is his focus on the male figure. Inspired by the men he met while living in New York City, he would insert them into his paintings.

Using models from Taddei’s personal life, his art takes on an autobiographical meaning. His figures often seem suspended in a state of longing−yearning for one another, unable to connect. The fragmentation of his subjects through abstract techniques amplifies this sense of disconnection. “It’s always been problematic for me with relationships, for everyone I’m sure,” Taddei reflects. “That’s what it is to be human. Things work out and then they separate,” says Taddei. 

After decades of living and working in the city, Taddei pursued another intuitive change, and moved upstate. He explains, “I found myself being edged out of the scene as I grew older. I could have tolerated that, but I wanted to make a break. You have to take a bold step.”

Now at age 80, his days are slower and more peaceful. He spends time painting in his sunlit studio with a skylight, something he doesn’t take for granted after living in the city. Even after a lifetime of success shaped by following his instincts, Taddei admits sometimes he still longs for the past. “I miss it. I dream about it. I’ve lost my whole life there. And I miss the people.” In particular, he misses the abundance of male models New York once offered. To make up for the loss, Taddei returns to his memories of summer days spent on Long Island and the lifeguards who first stirred his imagination, figures that continue to appear his recent work.

Reflecting on all the changes he’s navigated, Taddei says, “That’s the price you have to pay, but you have to do it. You do. At some point in your life. Otherwise, you’re going to be a prisoner.” 

Richard Taddei’s work will be on exhibit in Saviours at the Greg Salvatori Gallery, 366 Commercial St., Provincetown, June 6 –19. There will be an opening reception on Friday, June 6, 6 p.m. For more information call 347.399.0875 or visit gregsalvatori.com.