If “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” then I believe that “art is in the soul of the beholder”.  What causes a person to warm to one painting, and yet someone else be completely cold to it?  That’s what makes art exciting, it’s not a science.

As this magazine is dedicated to collectors of automobilia it has made my job a lot easier.  Rather than talk about an infinite list of art and artists, it has already culled the herd for me.   However, the remaining herd is still pretty mind boggling.  With literally thousands of different automobile art pieces out there.  Where as a collector do you start?

Let’s first deal with the collector who is really an investor. Over the years, I’ve had clients who didn’t know a road car from a race car, a Model T from a GT40.  Their interest was purely in the artist and the reasonable chance of an increase in value.  Let the buyer beware!

What continuously surprises me with some artists is their absorption of painting particular subjects that are, quite honestly, of little interest to almost no one.  They must be true artists! 

The opposite end is a lovely man who lives in the south of France and rides around on his Harley.  Every now and again he gets short of cash, goes into his studio and paints.  A number of us buy the results and off he goes on his bike.  The man is now well into his late sixties and has no intention of change.  He just happens to be a brilliant artist, I mean mega brilliant.  His pieces are already changing hands at telephone number prices.  He could be considered one of the greats, but he has no interest in his own work – they are a means to his own ends, and he remains incognito to all but a few friends and associates. I love the man!

​Steve Austin

I purchased my first piece of art at a very young age.  I didn’t even recognize it as such.  It was a set of Christmas Cards advertised in the Autosport weekly magazine.  A set of ten pictures of my Formula 1 heroes.  Of course I had no interest in sending off the ten Christmas Cards, even if I knew ten people to send them to; these cards were mine.  It took me many years of collecting these annual treasures before it dawned on me that someone had actually painted them.  Starting from a blank sheet to...yes!... A work of art. That wasn’t a revelation, but more an understanding of what a talented artist could do.  These were paintings that were real - images of light, shade, speed, almost sound.   ​

I started to truly study these people, some who splashed color, some who caressed the paper with watercolor, some whose detail was so intense you believed at first it was a fine photograph, and some who were so brilliant you were absorbed into the painting.  I loved it, maybe too much, as my ‘car art’ collection got larger and larger.  It was only a matter of time before I needed to move some to allow for new ones. I was precariously close to becoming that object referred to as an ‘art dealer.’  A dubious recognition! 
​
The ensuing, now twenty-eight years, has been quite a ride.  I’ve traveled around a large part of the world to various venues, met many of these talented people and come away with definite perceptions.  

In my art business I represent three artists, each different, each extremely talented.  That doesn’t mean they are the best, that is something for each viewer to decide.  To me they are a great combination, each offering a different perspective.