Atmosphere and Light: The Automotive Paintings of Barry Rowe

Barry Rowe paints his historic subjects with a deco feel that is entirely in keeping with what is perhaps his favorite era, the 1920s and 1930s. Crowd scenes particularly interest him because they provide an opportunity to show human interaction with the machines, which Barry finds more compelling than portraying cars alone in a static setting or racing past at speed. His paintings, whether of a grand touring car on an open road in Europe or a chaotic competition scene, are imbued with a quality of atmosphere and light that is uniquely Barry's.

Atmosphere and Light offers the first retrospective of Barry's work, with paintings and sketches selected and organized to exhibit the breadth of his style. This book also explains the historical context of his paintings and describes in Barry's words the important considerations and individual approaches to his commissions. This satisfying combination offers a new way to enjoy and appreciate the rich scope of Barry's paintings.

This is a limited edition of 1,500 individually numbered copies each signed by Barry Rowe, Gary Doyle, and the publisher.

Barry Rowe has always been fascinated by the automobile. His father worked at Jaguar in Coventry, and some of Barry's earliest boyhood memories are of examining disused C-type and D-type racers that were put out behind the factory.

Barry's career as a full-time painter began when he won the prestigious Sotheby's Art Award in 1994 for his portrait of five-time World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio. That success brought his work to the attention of both private collectors and corporate clients, which have included Louis Vuitton of Paris, The Royal Mail, Royal Doulton, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Barry lives in Devon, England.

Gary Doyle was a commercial real estate executive before he decided to concentrate full time on researching and writing about automobile history. Areas that are of particular interest to him are racing in the 1920s and automobile art. He is the author of the critically acclaimed King of the Boards: The Life and Times of Jimmy Murphy, and is a staff writer for Automotive Fine Art, the journal of the Automotive Fine Arts Society. Gary lives in Oceanside, California.