Anyone into Air Racing art?

[APB]

I was wondering who amongst our collectors might be interested in air racing / air racing art; Thompson Trophy, Bendix, Reno, Schneider Cup?

Thanks,

APB

[Bleuviper2]

Uh, Yep!

I'd love to do some pieces of racing aircraft. Warbirds plus colorful paint schemes, polished metal and highly waxed finishes - could yield some really cool pieces.

Cheers!

Chris
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[kzollitsch]

I definitely am. I have "Sting of the Cobra" by Nixon Galloway depicting a P-39 in the '46 Thompson Trophy race and I also have "Lefty" by Michael Short depicting Lefty Gardner's P-38 in Reno.

I'd love to get John Shaw's Unlimiteds and also Galloway's Reno '64. There is definitely some interesting air racing art out there.

[APB]

kzollitsch,

I have a copy of Sting of the Cobra and it is a great print. In fact, my father in law who lives in Seattle, WA was really good friends with Tex Johnson. Never get tired of the stories about him...

* * *

I wanted to tell you (and anyone interested) that if you plan on getting "Reno '64" - the main edition is signed by the inaugural winner Mira Slovak (who also raced Unlimited Hydroplanes winning the 1966 APBA Gold Cup) but my print is also signed by Clay Lacy who came in 2nd - but was the Reno Unlimited winner in 1970 and the first to win Reno in a Mustang and the only pilot to ever win Reno in a stock unmodified Mustang.

So, when you get a chance to order one - ask for the two signature print - there is no difference in price!

I really like the golden age of air racing but have a collection of many eras.

Another good artist to look at and shop around for is Denver Kissinger. Shaw's piece is stunning too.

Take care.

[barnstormer]

It is great to see some discussion of air racing art. I am partial to "the Golden Age of Air Racing, between the wars. In the U.S., air racing art at the time, was almost synonymous with Charles Hubbell, who was hired by the Thompson(later, TRW) Company to paint a set of the previous years Thompson Trophy planes, contenders, and other National Air Race planes etc.
I have a vast collection that I MUST thin out. One problem in selling or trading them, is some are in full group/sets, that it seems would be a pity to break up. But I think, with the economy, pragmatism, might be leading that way.
I have great air racing Original art in oils, pencil and pen& ink.(over 100 artworkd JUST of great air racers..Many are signed by the pilots and designers of the late 1920s-1930s
I'll start with what I consider to be the two "jewels" of my collection.
First is the 18 x 24 (in original framed to 21 x 33) oil of the 1931 (the First)Bendix Trophy Winning Laird Solution. Undated, but circa 1932. As shown, below (but not really visible, unless you see it in person)it is ink signed by the designer E.M. (Matty) Laird, on the far left, and J. H. Doolittle in bottom center. Of course Charles Hubbell has signed in paint. I like the heavy paint and texture of the thick brush strokes. In an exhibition of several hundred of Hubbells aviation art paintings, It was chosen as the master Poster image to represent the entire exhibition of works that had been gathered from around the country. Most of Hubbell's art was under contract and owned by TRW, and is Still in the Cleveland museum. I have most of the rest, that he owned or kept for himself, hung in his own home & offices, or were special commissions etc. The Smithsonian also held a one man, all Hubbell aviation art Exhibition in the 1960s, and I have a lot of choice groups from it.Below , is the Original Thompson/Laird oil, and the Exhibition poster . I still have some mint cond, original posters.

The second "jewel" is an Original 1933 dated & signed, 16 x 22 (in Original frame to 18 x24) oil that was a presentation gift to his friend William Robertson of St. Louis, who was also a friend and important person to Lindbergh. I obtained this painting from Robertson's Grandson.
Two of the great icons of air racing histoy, the Gee Bee and Charles Hubble art of it. Now 77 years old! Need to find new homes for at least one of them..We are moving to smaller home, closer to the Grandkids.
In addition to the air racing art, I have several file drawers of NAR Promotor Cliff Henderson's archives with some 1500 original photos and many more letters, documents and his NAR records from 1928-WWII. I also have famous NAR winner/designer/pilot, Benny Howard's Original license book, with 11 of his pilot licenses and certificates held in by string binding, including his winning years. Also a neat corn cob pipe, and photos of Gilmore the lion, sent to Henderson by the colorful Roscoe Turner.



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[APB]

Thanks Barnstormer; glad you like the posting.

* * *

Beautiful art and artifacts BTW. Not many lithos have been issued over the decades of air racing art and recently the trend are (usually) unlimiteds that run Reno. Happy to see that you have amassed such a nice collection.

The oils are very nice and despite their age show off quite well. The items from Roscoe alone are a great story. Shame no one has ever done a really solid artistic history of his racers; the Weddell Williams, the Boeing 247, his Laird Meteor, scenes with Gilmore, etc. Despite "Amelia" kind of bombing and "The Aviator" - Roscoe Turner would make a rather interesting movie topic.


For other art you may/may not be interested in:

Nixon Galloway did four; Sting of the Cobra & Reno '64, then Doolittle Wins Again! (Beautiful) & Roscoe Turner next to his Laird Turner Meteor.

Stan Stokes did some of his smaller prints of the Thompson and Doolittle at the Schneider.

For originals John Amendola did some of the beautiful box artwork for Williams Brothers models of their myriad of plastic kits. Some of the work is very nice.

Sadly I think the ranks of collectors of old school racers aren't too numerous; perhaps due to not much being out there. I personally love the era of the teens through the thirties when the aircraft were home built for racing and record setting. The lines of the craft, the power plants, the sheer quest for speed and glory. The aircraft were true pieces of art flashing across the sky. Unlimiteds are like a chopped and channeled retro hot rod kit (but I love them too since this is my era!).

The pilots and designers of the 30's were true pioneers; always pushing the envelope with design and passion.

Kenneth McDonnough did a quad set of Schneider racers and many artists have done the ultimate Schneider racer - the Supermarine S6B; Michael Turner, Gerald Coulson, Ivan Berryman and a few others.

Personally I have always thought the BEST image for Doolittle winning the Schneider in 1925 would be a rendition of the photo in Time Life's Barnstormers and Speed Kings of Jimmy ripping over the crowd in his Curtis R3C-2 with the American flag flying in the foreground and the crowd waving.

Don Feight did a litho of the Formula 1 air racer, Nemesis, signed by Jon Sharp the pilot called "Chasing the Dream". By nearly all accounts for sheer wins and championships Sharp is the most prolific in history.

Turner did an image of the Percival Mew Gull bagging the Kings Cup in 1938 & it's signed by famed air racer and Spit pilot Alex Henshaw

* * *

I am glad to see you & a few others enjoy air racing history and art work.

Take care,

APB

[Blacksheep]

[APB]

Hi Blacksheep,

Clay is a pretty nice guy, too. Met him at the Camarillo Air Show back in the late 90's and we were standing around talking and he said to our group "Oh...will you guys excuse me, I have to go and do something..." Next thing he's snarling by on the deck in his purple #64 P-51 for some fly bys, etc. Man it was great.

* * *

Thanks for the article; a wonderful write up and fascinating character - a true aviator.

* Also aside from air racing the DC-7 Super Spooky - also qualified a Lockheed Constellation ( The Red Baron) in san Diego - but was DQ due to complaints from the other racers! Bet that was a sight...

[barnstormer]

Hi APB; Yes those were exciting days, when innovative and colorful designers and pilots were faster than the military designs that had huge companies behind them.
Here is a Unique set of multi-signed prints of Thompson Trophy “Contenders” that did not win (in the year they are shown)
The full set of 44 original large pencil sketches on art paper, were purchased (With the copyrights)from Hubbell by well known 1930s National Air Race performer, Leonard B. Peterson, who performed and aerobatic act with his Monocoupe, as shown below. Peterson had a unique set of prints made, with heavy museum-grade sandwich matts, and nice title labels, for an exhibition. I don’t know what process he used to make the prints. Initially, I thought they were the Original dwgs. because the dark areas are reflective/shiny, as a penciled area might look. (But I found the entire set of Original pencil sketches on the art paper, in another folio) You can see the small tack holes in the corners of the matts. Peterson had many of the pilots, and designers of the Thompson Trophy racers (his personal friends and associates)sign this one-of-a-kind set. I will probably sell them individually.
Below are some samples including the 1932 Howard “IKE,” triple signed by Roger Don Rae, Gordon Israel, and Harold Neumann; Tony LeVier and the 1939 Thompson Schoenfeldt “Firecracker,”; Bob Hall and the 1931 Thompson Gee Bee; and the 1933 Wedell Williams #92, signed by both Jimmy Haizlip and Mary Haizlip;
The original pencil sketches are on 11.5 x 14.5 art paper
This special set of prints is matted to size 13 x 16
22 of the matted collection are signed.
There are 34 individual signatures, when including the multiple signed matted prints.
Signed by:
James Haizlip
Mary Haizlip
Robert Hall
Gordon Israel
E.M. (Matty) Laird
Tony LeVier
Howell W. Miller
Harold Neumann
Rod Nimmo
Rudy Profant
Roger Don Rae
Leigh Wade
Steve Wittman










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aero art & artifacts & collection at:
www.memaerobilia.com

[APB]

Hi Barnstomer,

Man those are some great little prints! While most were already gone, I know Harold Neumann lived into his 90's and Steve Whitman flew until he and his wife perished in a crash at age 91.


I had the pleasure of meeting Tony LeVier (along with Dick Bong's wife, Marge) at a meeting in Burbank, CA.

Tony was a wonderful guy and we had to start our talk by going back to what? Air racing! He loved to talk about the Schoenfeldt “Firecracker" and was so pleased that someone remembered him for that too.

I told him we'll get to the P-38's, jet testing, Lockheed, etc. Gotta start somewhere...

* * *

The really small racers were always pretty cool; "Firecracker", Benny Howard's "Ike", "Mike", "Pete" and the 1937 Thompson winner - the Folkerts Jupiter. The French Caudron was also beautiful.

Such a collection is a rarity. You have got a wonderful set of prints.

[barnstormer]

[APB]

Man that "Mike" original is stunning. I love the paintings done in the 30's. Great color, wonderful image and rather detailed, too.

I met Le Vier at the Burbank Airport in 1995. He was there due to his ties to Lockheed and Marge Bong, widow of our top ace Dick Bong since he was KIA testing a P-80 Shooting Star there on August 6th 1945. It was a reunion / fundraiser for making a Burbank Aviation Museum. When I was a teenager, I knew I guy in my neighborhood who was 5th Air Force Intelligence in New Guinea. So naturally, we talked about the war. He told me he had an autographed photo of Bong and one day came into the little neighborhood market where I worked and just gave it to me. I was stunned. I told him "Do you know what this is worth?" Arnold said "Yes...but I know you will respect it and it's found a good home..." Marge loved hearing the story.

Tony relished in talking to a young guy in his 20's about his air racing and career. Sad thing is that most people were hanging about and didn't even recognize Tony. I just walked up to him and he spun around and we just hit it off.

APB

[barnstormer]

Some Air racing art is very affordable. This is an Original acrylic painting by artist R.P. Shannon, of the famous Gee Bee R1, that set the world’s speed record with Jimmy Doolittle as pilot, in 1932. Some of Shannon’s other notable paintings are featured in the famous book, “The Planes The Aces Flew.” Shannon has a full page of handwritten notes attached to the back of this 11.5 x 14.5 Original, framed painting that detail the full history of the Gee Bee racer, and he mentions that he actually witnessed Russell Boardman fly this plane in 1933. In the notes, he describes how this painting was painted as a special birthday gift for his Daughter. He gives her instructions for care & cleaning of the special UV filtering, non-glare pane in the framing. I have another larger painting by Shannon, of “Wrong Way Corrigan approaching Ireland, after his famous flight.(but that is not air racing topic). This unique signed original would be less than most prints.




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