Vintage Oil Painting of Ferrari 250 GTO by Dion Pears 20th C

Dion Pears
was a British painter. Born in Richmond, Surrey in 1929, Pears was the grandson of the famed marine artist Charles Pears. Following the 1950 Monte Carlo Rally Pears was commissioned by the car manufacturer Renault to produce a painting of one of their winning cars. The artist soon came to be considered among the most eminent motorsport artists. He was commissioned by several celebrated motor racing drivers to represent their successes and beloved cars in his distinctive and lively style of painting, capturing lasting impressions of both the racing car and the winning driver. From Le Mans to Grand Prix, Bentley to Ferrari the artist regularly received commissions to paint contemporary races and legendary events retrospectively.

As his career developed, Pears expanded his oeuvre and became well regarded for his paintings of motorcycles and aeroplanes. Alongside his more popular automobile paintings, Pears was an accomplished seascape and landscape artist. The artist regularly captured barges, riggers and grand ships in his work, his celebrated skill of representing clarity of movement evident in his maritime works as well as in those depicting fast-paced motorised machines. The artist’s ability to portray the changeable nature of the sea was such that Pears was regularly invited to exhibit with the Royal Society of Marine Artists. The artist died in 1985. His work remains in the collection of the National Motor Museum and in several private collections throughout Britain.

Angelica Kauffman, RA (1741 - 1807)

was a Swiss-born Austrian Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Though born as "Kauffmann", Kauffman is the preferred spelling of her name in English; it is the form she herself used most in signing her correspondence, documents and paintings.

While Kauffman produced many types of art, she identified herself primarily as a history painter, an unusual designation for a woman artist in the 18th century. History painting, was considered the most elite and lucrative category in academic painting during this time period. Under the direction of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the Royal Academy made a strong effort to promote history painting to a native audience who were more interested in commissioning and buying portraits and landscapes.

Despite the popularity that Kauffman enjoyed in British society and her success as an artist, she was disappointed by the relative apathy that the British had towards history painting. Ultimately she left Britain for the continent, where history painting was better established, held in higher esteem and patronized.

The works of Angelica Kauffman have retained their reputation. By 1911, rooms decorated with her work were still to be seen in various quarters. At Hampton Court was a portrait of the duchess of Brunswick; in the National Portrait Gallery, a self-portrait. There were other pictures by her at Paris, at Dresden, in the Hermitage at St Petersburg, in the Alte Pinakothek atMunich, in Kadriorg Palace, Tallinn (Estonia).

Satinwood

is a hard and durable wood with a satinlike sheen, much used in cabinetmaking, especially in marquetry. It comes from two tropical trees of the family Rutaceae (rue family). East Indian or Ceylon satinwood is the yellowish or dark-brown heartwood of Chloroxylon swietenia.

The lustrous, fine-grained, usually figured wood is used for furniture, cabinetwork, veneers, and backs of brushes. West Indian satinwood, sometimes called yellow wood, is considered superior. It is the golden yellow, lustrous, even-grained wood found in the Florida Keys and the West Indies.

It has long been valued for furniture. It is also used for musical instruments, veneers, and other purposes. Satinwood is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Rutaceae.