The Art Of Motoring

On Sunday 4th November 400 intrepid drivers and their passengers took part in the 122nd world famous Bonhams London to Brighton Veteran Car Run which started at dawn on a what turned out to be a dry weekend in London and took the participants on the 60-mile route from Hyde Park Corner to Madeira Drive in Brighton.

The day before saw Regent Street playing host to the Regent Street Motor Show, celebrating 125 years of motoring, as the street was transformed into a free-to-attend motor show in central London, packed with families and car enthusiasts alike.

Classic Old Bentley
Trucks Elephants – Acrylic on canvas by Klaus Wagger

As part of the build up to this big motoring weekend and annual veteran car event, The Royal Automobile Club hosted a wonderful exhibition of oils and canvas paintings as well as sculptures of classic cars to celebrate the art of motoring.

Artists specialising in motorsport included Tim Layzell, John Ketchell and Klaus Wagger to name just a few of the 14 artists showing off their works, with a selection of some of these fantastically colourful paintings illustrated here.

Early Racing Car
Full Throttle at Brooklands – Acrylics on canvas by Paul Dove
Catch Me If You Can at Monaco GP
Catch Me If You Can – Acrylics on canvas by Paul Dove

Klaus Wagger

Austrian artist Klaus Wagger grew up in The Tirol, known for its active motorsport scene and gave Klaus the inspiration for his art.  He started his career as a freelance designer and technical illustrator and designed the Mille Miglia poster in 2000 and then in 2006 he painted a calendar for the Italian Carabinieri.  Klaus’s work has been featured in several high-profile Italian events and in 2013 he was elected a member of the prestigious Automotive Fine Arts Society in recognition of his artistic achievements.

Klaus prefers to let his painting develop a sense of excitement and speed with each brushstroke and does not sketch out his pictures unlike most artists.  The bold abstract background he paints means that the focus remains squarely on the car, capturing the sense of speed.

Pre War Racing Car
Monaco Grand Prix – Rosemeyer by Alfredo De La Maria

Paul Dove

Paul Dove won a prestigious international motoring art competition in 2001 which inspired him to become a professional artist.  His works have been exhibited at the Monaco Grand Prix and Goodwood Festival of Speed and can be found in some of the world’s best motoring collections.  Paul works predominately in oil and his vibrant use of colour and complex crowd scenes add a sense of drama and immediacy to his paintings.

Art of motoring Ferrari at Monaco
Monaco Grand Prix Ferrari by Alfredo De La Maria

Alfredo De La Maria

Alfredo De La Maria studied art and architecture at Bellas Artes School, Montevideo.  This talented artist started painting at the very young age of 18 drawing illustrations for political and sporting evets for a Uruguayan newspaper.  He became famous in Uruguay for his studies of Polo players but has since become interested in automotive art where he uses both oil and watercolours to express himself.

Classic Racing Aston Martin at Le Mans 1958
Le Mans 1958 – Aston Martin by Alfredo De La Maria
1970s Ferrari racing at Monaco
1976 Monaco Grand Prix – Niki Lauda in a Ferrari by Alfredo De La Maria

Jonny Ambrose

Jonny Ambrose has had a life-long passion for design, maps and cars and exhibits his artwork worldwide.  He combines traditional craftsmanship with modern software-based engineering to produce intricate, sculptural forms and takes his inspiration from a number of sources including blueprints, aerodynamic diagrams and graphics.

The two beautiful pieces pictured below are of a Bugatti Atlantic made in Beech, Oak Veneer and Carbon Fibre and underneath, an Aerodynamic Airflow made with Ash, Oak Veneerm Staron and SLS Painted Composite.

Bugatti Atlantic - Jonny Ambrose
Bugatti Atlantic and Aerodynamic Airflow by Jonny Ambrose – Photo credit: Jonny Ambrose

Author Bio:

Simon Burrell is Editor of Our Man Behind The Wheel and Editor-in-Chief of Our Man On The Ground Travel and Lifestyle Magazine.

Photographs by Simon Burrell

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