Shedding some light on the art of motor racing

PAST IMPERFECT:THE SON of a Jaguar employee, Barry Rowe grew up sketching Jaguar XK120s and, by the time he was 13, his latent talent had been recognised by the award of a scholarship to Coventry Art School, writes BOB MONTGOMERY

At the same time as his passion for art was developing, so too was a great love of motor racing, and Rowe would ride his bicycle to race meetings at Silverstone, arriving early to avoid paying admission.

Aged 16, Rowe decided to leave school and secured a job in the advertising industry.

At that time, in the late 1950s, that meant making the tea and being a general errand boy. But he watched and learned from senior artists and illustrators, awaiting his opportunity. Soon he was illustrating brochures for automotive clients such as India Tyres and Coventry Climax and it was while directing a photoshoot that he met professional motorsport photographer Ted Eves.

Eves introduced Barry to the editor of Sporting Motorist, Philip Hutchinson, who commissioned him to illustrate a series of magazine covers.

The pay was minimal but Rowe received race and airline tickets which in turn allowed him to broaden his scope by traveling to race meetings at home and abroad. Shortly afterwards, he left agency work behind and in 1966 set up as a freelance illustrator.

His new business thrived and expanded, but Rowe never lost his love of motor racing.

In the early 1990s, while spending a period at the Falmouth College of Art as a guest lecturer teaching illustration, he started painting in oils before discovering acrylics, his preferred medium ever since.

Around this time Rowe became aware of a contest entitled Record Breakers, sponsored by Sotheby’s and the Transport Trust. Deciding to enter, he painstakingly crafted a painting of Sir Malcolm Campbell in his famous, record-breaking Bluebird. As an afterthought, and at the suggestion of his wife, he also entered a small portrait of five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio. As things turned out, the Fangio portrait won the £10,000 first prize.

Barry used the prize to launch his career as a full-time painter. Since then his fame has spread and he’s created hundreds of paintings, which have been shown in all the great automotive art exhibitions including Pebble Beach, Monte Carlo, Retromobile, Goodwood and Meadow Brook. Nowadays, he works mainly painting commissions from private individuals as well as commissions from a variety of corporate clients.

Barry’s paintings display a wonderful understanding of light for mood and drama. Because light is so important to him – he uses mostly only acrylics because they dry so quickly – he only works in natural light.

His subjects are increasingly more about atmosphere than action, and he particularly enjoys painting the vintage period of the 1920s and 1930s, when Art Deco was in style.

Rowe is often inspired by photographs in magazines, but most of all by the light, something that remains a constant in all his work.

Today, Barry Rowe is deservedly one of the most sought-after automotive artists, and one whose work is admired wherever fine motor cars are driven.