Peter Max paints Taylor Swift

Reprinted from Los Angeles Times

Pop artist Peter Max has whipped up a new portrait of Taylor Swift to add to his portfolio of the celebrity paintings he’s created over the last four decades.

Max had done an interpretation of the cover for Swift’s 2008 album “Fearless” after he found out she was opening her concert tour in Tampa, Fla., the same week he was having a gallery showing there.

“She is one of the most beautiful and talented stars we have today,” Max said in a statement issued Thursday in which Swift recalled admiring Max’s paintings in an art gallery in New Jersey when she was growing up.

His images of Swift will be available starting Sunday exclusively on her website. Her latest album, “Speak Now,” released on Oct. 25, on Monday was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Assn. of America, signifying sales of more than 3 million copies.

— Randy Lewis