Michael Taylor (b.1933) has exhibited regularly since 1963 after completing his diploma at the National Art School (then East Sydney Technical College). In 1971 he relocated to the Monaro region south of Canberra and today divides his time between his property in Cooma and the far south coast of NSW. A complete survey of Taylor's distinguished career was presented in 2016 at the Canberra Museum and Gallery.
The National Gallery of Australia holds the most extensive collection of Taylor’s works, numbering one hundred and fifteen paintings, collages and drawings. Taylor is also represented in the collections of the Art Gallery of NSW, National Gallery of Victoria, Queensland Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia, Joye Art Foundation, High Court of Australia, Parliament House Art Collection and the collections of Artbank, RACV and BHP.
Taylor has shown in historically important exhibitions including the Biennale des Jeunes, Paris (1963); Contemporary Australian Painting, Los Angeles (1966); Australian Art Today, touring South-East Asia (1969); Ten Australians, touring Europe (1974–75); Landscape and Abstraction, Nolan Gallery (1986); I had a dream, NGV (1996); Moist, NGA (2005); Fireworks, touring QLD, NSW and VIC regional galleries (2005) and more recently a complete survey exhibition at Canberra Museum and Gallery (2016).
