Classic Car Fine Art Not Just Another Pretty Car

Writen by Virginia Ivanicki

In the musty halls of Fine Art and the critics, gallery owners and collectors who walk them, there can often be felt a barely disguised disdain for the art of the classic automobile.

Within the large population of Automotive Artists, especially in North America and Britain, it has been difficult to find acceptance by the mainstream art community. Perhaps many of the artists involved create illustrative portraits of cars in styles that support auto racing fan merchandize more than what is considered fine art. Some fit more easily into the areas of recreation, muscle car, motor sport, NASCAR racing, or other thematic visual art. As such, these gifted stylists and their work are considered commercial offshoots of these areas. But there are many other automotive artists who's work stands equal with any traditional fine art. The only thing that marks this art apart is its subject matter -- one of the most ubiquitous and powerful icons of our society -- the classic automobile.

Artists such as Andy Warhol, Don Jacot and Audrey Flack have been able to immortalize common mass produced items of popular culture with resulting critical success. Artist Robert Bechtle placed cars within the context of street scenes reminiscent of family snapshots and as such, made a statement about society that included the auto but moved beyond it. The automobile was included in many of his paintings as an important piece of Americana.

There are many automotive artists, who like Robert Bechtle, have taken the image further than an illustrative depiction of the car in its perfect 'still life' state. These artists deserve to be recognized for crossing the line, as it were, between niche art and fine art.

Paris based artist Malquito uses his website's virtual gallery to show his automotive images hanging over a couch, as if to say "this too can hang in your living room, not your rec room or garage." Artists Nicola Wood and David Snyder portray classic cars in scenes rich with color and design, comparable to any contemporary art today. John Salt's run down cars nestle amongst the rich textures of urban strafed buildings. Margie Guyot's impressionist paintings just happen to feature the automobile, a common item that would most likely not have been removed from the painted scenes of Claude Monet or Pissarro, had cars existed in their time.

The automobile as part of society is as viable a subject for art today as were the religious symbols and icons in the 13th century or hunting scenes and sailing ships in the 19th century. Art has historically catered to its clients; once the church, later high society, monarchs and noblemen; today, the common man. Auto buyers come from a wide socio-economic demographic which marks cars from all eras as a cross section indicator of societal tastes. The classic automobile has a viable right to commemoration as a major example of historic style and design, arguably as much as the architecture of any era.

It has long been a central role of artists to articulate contemporary lifestyles and express the effects of society and everyday surroundings upon the mind of man. Our society enjoys a love-hate relationship with the car. The cars of the 50's and 60's represent perhaps the apex of North America's love affair with the personal machine that gave both men and women equal access to freedom, travel and the ability to expand their horizons. It is also the grand polluter of our time and these behemoths of yesteryear the worst offenders. The classic auto is strongly symbolic of the opposing emotions and attitudes of their eras and the current era. And as such, it is a tremendously powerful subject for fine art.

Virginia Ivanicki's art can be viewed at: http://www.ivanicki.com Vancouver artist Virginia Ivanicki is an Automotive and Aviation artist with a difference. Her oil paintings combine a high degree of technical excellence and realism with a unique style that borders on the surreal. She has been a professional artist for over thirty years, showing her work at galleries across Canada and in the United States.