Art Works in Three Dimensions

Nov/Dec 2018 edition
Issue #1 AutoMobilia Resource Magazine
John Lutsch

“Surprise at Monaco” by J. Paul Nesse, 1989. Edition of 24, approximately 20” long. Value: $10,000 to $15,000.

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In the field of automobilia, quality sculpture has always been desirable, and happily, we are living in something of a ‘golden age’ where beautiful works are available to suit a wide range of budgets and tastes. Regardless of materials used or limits of edition size, there is a marvelous variety of desirable new and vintage automobile-inspired sculpture currently available to enthusiasts, from incredibly rare to common place.

One of the challenges for the sculptor depicting an automobile-inspired subject is how to impart motion to a material more appropriate to a static pose, like Rodin’s ‘Thinker’. The noted artists J. Paul Nesse and Stanley Wanlass work extensively in bronze, creating large weighty pieces that despite their mass, present the viewer with an image of speed and grace; ribbons of dust fly up from the tires while the pilots wrestle to control the hurtling cars.  Henk Kolk, a Dutch sculptor living in Germany works in a similar medium and method.  In a way, the material used defies the nature of the automobile, that is to say light, agile, and responsive, but because of the artist’s mastery, it all works.
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