The Painted Style | Nov. 14th

Eddie Powell (1938 – 2012)

Eddie Powell (aka TaoGaea) was a successful master of fine art, with works spanning the 1960’s through 2003. To meet the rising demand of his high-contrast works in the 1970’s, Powell hired a team of fourteen artists who reproduced his original works by hand, with the final strokes provided by Powell. These works were usually noted in the signature “TaoGaea2” to indicate the reproduction. He eventually began signing his name to his works in the 1990’s.

He and his wife taught school to make ends meet- and to support his inspiration, his two children, named Tao (Chinese meaning Universal Truth) and Gaea (Mother Earth of Greek Mythology). In the early days, Powell would pack up his family in his Volkswagen Bus on the weekends and travel to West Hollywood to sell his early paintings in a quaint parking lot on La Cienega Blvd. and Melrose Avenue. Eventually his work caught the eye of patrons of the entertainment industry, leading Powell toward a successful career as a fine artist.

Some of Powell’s most notable clients include: Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley, Mac Davis, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Glen Campbell, Frank Gifford, Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Nancy Sinatra, Oliver Stone, Three Dog Night, The Comedy Store, premier restaurants and suites at Harrah’s Tahoe, the Hilton Las Vegas, MGM Grand Las Vegas and Caesars Tahoe as well as prestigious businesses and interior design firms.

Powell took a hiatus from painting in the late 80’s to care for his wife & soulmate, JohnnieJo Powell. Upon her passing in 1991, Eddie was devastated; he took to travel as a form of catharsis. From these experiences, a new era of Powell’s art was born. These newer works, signed “Eddie Powell” rather than “Taogaea”, feature vivid and abstract depictions that were inspired by his travels.

In the late 90’s, Powell was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, and ceased to paint from that point on. He passed away in 2012 at the age of 74.