THE FORD GT40 FINE ART EDITION BY ARTIST ALAN THORNTON.
The famed pop artist Andy Warhol's design and printmaking methods have been revived by photographer Alan Thornton, who has immortalised another historic automobile—tthe 1969 Ford GT40 that Jackie Ickx and Jackie Oliver drove to victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A limited edition of 200 fine art prints, spanning 1.0 metres (38 inches) wide by 0.7 metres (27 inches) tall on archival paper, will be offered as part of the partnership between the Amalgam Collection and Thornton.
Alan has complete creative control over his work, from photography to ink mixing and printmaking, which is what makes it so appealing and distinctive. Instead of using a four-colour print method, the seven colours of the GT40 Fine Art Edition are carefully blended to capture the many paint and material finishes of the automobile. To accomplish the desired effect, the inks must be mixed with great care, and each colour must be pulled by hand as the dots are spread out over the paper. The final printout features vivid, highly saturated hues. Every step of this intricate art requires expert skills and imaginative thinking. Each print is one-of-a-kind because the process is very tactile and technique dependent. The procedure is so painstaking that it yields artworks with an unparalleled richness and presence.
By faithfully recreating legendary Ford and Gulf Oil International models in fine model and art print formats, Amalgam takes great pride in being an Official Licenced Partner of both companies. Starting with a 1:8 scale model of the 1969 Le Mans-winning GT40, the collaboration has progressed over the past five years to include an open edition of 1:18 size models and a very limited 1:8 Race Weathered edition.
Sandy Copeman, founder of Amalgam Collection, on the artworks of Alan Thornton: “Amalgam’s core mission has always been to capture iconic cars in supremely detailed large-scale models. When I met with Alan Thornton in 2020, it became very clear to me very quickly that he was on a parallel mission to fully comprehend and capture iconic car designs and render them into perfectly worked 2D artworks. As with Amalgam’s models, Alan’s work exudes a passionate attention to the finest details, melded together to deliver a deep and powerful image of the subject car. Alan’s artistic comprehension of the car designer’s intentions, combined with his extreme technical virtuosity and a passion for automotive subjects, results in very special artworks of great intensity and beauty. Presenting these works in person to the lead designers at Ford elicited an immediate and tremendously excited response, leading to a swift engagement and discussions about the most important classic and current cars representing Ford’s design DNA.”
Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari's notorious animosity gave rise to the Ford GT40, one of the most famous racing vehicles of all time. A vehicle that would go on to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times in a row was the end result. Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver's 1969 GT40 chassis #1075, which narrowly avoided a technical disaster and the mounting pressure from Porsche to claim the Le Mans quadruple by a mere 120 metres, was the last of its kind.
Discover More: The Amalgam Collection and Alan Thornton
