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A Sports car in a workshop

Drawing
1940s (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Wilfrid R. Addey (1912-1999) worked as a commercial artist for over sixty years, working for Dorland advertising and Mitchells among other London advertising firms. His work shows the range of products and illustration styles, from aeroplanes and cars, beer and perfume, to satirical cartoons and calendar pin-up girls and is representative of the post war boom in advertising during the late 1940s and 1950s.

This pen, ink and wash drawing shows a late 1940s sports car in a garage where people are working on it. The medium has been combined to convey the fall of light on the contours of the car. The style of car, with its rounded contours, follows that of cars which were designed to beat the land speed record, most famously the "Bluebird" cars designed and driven by Donald Malcolm Campbell (1921-1967). During the 1950's Campbell attempted to beat the land and water speed records in his vehicles. Attempts such as these sparked an interest in cars and speed. This illustration offers an interesting view of a car being worked on before a race. Although the car in this drawing is stationary there is still a sense of speed in the way that light falls on its contours.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleA Sports car in a workshop (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Pen and ink and wash drawing
Brief description
Drawing of a sports car in a workshop
Physical description
Pen, ink and wash drawing of a sports car in a garage with figures
Dimensions
  • Height: 34cm
  • Width: 47cm
Credit line
Given by K. D. and E. F. Law
Subjects depicted
Summary
Wilfrid R. Addey (1912-1999) worked as a commercial artist for over sixty years, working for Dorland advertising and Mitchells among other London advertising firms. His work shows the range of products and illustration styles, from aeroplanes and cars, beer and perfume, to satirical cartoons and calendar pin-up girls and is representative of the post war boom in advertising during the late 1940s and 1950s.

This pen, ink and wash drawing shows a late 1940s sports car in a garage where people are working on it. The medium has been combined to convey the fall of light on the contours of the car. The style of car, with its rounded contours, follows that of cars which were designed to beat the land speed record, most famously the "Bluebird" cars designed and driven by Donald Malcolm Campbell (1921-1967). During the 1950's Campbell attempted to beat the land and water speed records in his vehicles. Attempts such as these sparked an interest in cars and speed. This illustration offers an interesting view of a car being worked on before a race. Although the car in this drawing is stationary there is still a sense of speed in the way that light falls on its contours.
Collection
Accession number
E.206-2003

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Record createdMay 14, 2009
Record URL
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