The Car in Art and The Car as Art

Speed! Technology! Destruction! The battle cry of the Futurists WWI heralded the appearance of the car as a powerful symbol in avant-garde art. Soon the Art Deco masterpieces of the great car builders came to epitomise style, luxury and craftmanship, works of art in their own right. The romance of speed continued to be a major theme in how cars were depicted in art, but, since the 1950s the car has become art, used as a canvas for artists as celebrated as Peter Blake, Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst. This lecture will showcase the beautiful and the bizarre, celebrating the dynamic, creative, and sometimes unsettling relationship between cars and art.

Julian Richards  is a professional archaeologist who has worked for English Heritage, the BBC and as an independent. As a broadcaster he presented Meet the Ancestors and Blood of the Vikings for BBC2, and Mapping the Town for Radio 4. An exhibition of his own extensive collection of 'Stonehengiana' is on display at the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre. He has curated the new permanent ceramics gallery for Salisbury Museum. A popular and engaging speaker, Julian visited The Arts Society Southampton in 2022 with a talk on Passionate Potters and in 2024 with a talk on Stonehenge. He says “ With no intention of retiring, I am still passionate about Stonehenge, pots and old cars."  

 Image credit: Julian Richards, BMW  'Art car', 2025, Goodwood Revival meeting.

The Arts Society Southampton's talks are held on the second Monday of the month Oct - June at 19.30; the bar opens at 18.45.  Membership of the Society  is £46 annually for all nine lectures; visitors are also welcome and pay £8 on the night at the venue.  More info: www.theartssocietysouthampton.org.uk