Retired Princeton Day School Basketball Coach Shows His Artistic Side

By Barbara A. Preston | Posted June 29, 2023

Alan Taback, a long-time Blawenburg resident, was born in Newark in 1939. For 40 years, he coached basketball in Trenton, Princeton, and at The Solebury School in PA. He led the Princeton Day School basketball team to seven straight state championships from 1973 to 1980.

Alan Taback showed his work in June at the Blawenburg Reformed Church.

During that period he visited the artist Anne Packard, best known for atmospheric seascape paintings. He painted his first painting in her Provincetown, MA studio. “She said I should keep painting, so I did,” Taback said. His early work depicted realistic beach scenes. Over time, his work evolved to abstract works of bold brush strokes and vivid color, painted with acrylics or oils. He says Monet, van Gogh, Kokashka, and deKooning have inspired him.

Island Beach Magic, oil

Motorcycle Mama, acrylic, 36” X 60”

His recent show titled “Alan Taback and Friends” on June 9 and 10 in Blawenburg brought forth many of this former basketball players. One after another, they said Coach Taback changed their lives for the better. It was important, they added, to show up for Coach, who was there when they needed him.

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“With the recent passing of my wife Louise, my life partner of 68 years, I enter a new phase of life,” Taback told The Montgomery News. “Louise had been my muse, my business manager, and the glue that held everything together. Our memories continue to impact my work.”

Visit the artist’s online gallery at alantaback.com.