Un report sur R. Brandy dans le
'Classic & Sports Car' magazine
Aoùt 2010
Robert Brandy
ARTIST'S LOVE FOR TIN AND CANS
Un report sur R. Brandy dans le |
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Classic & Sports Car, page 61
| Texte Mario Laguna | |
ARTIST'S LOVE FOR TIN AND CANS | |
Luxembourg-based abstract painter Robert Brandy (Motoring art, March '01) is fascinated by the colours he finds in old oil cans and enamel signs. The wide walls of his workshop are decorated with hundreds of cans, from rare '20s De Dion-Bouton items to favourites from Shell and BP, and through his collection he can follow design changes over the past century.
In a world where only the biggest firms survive, few today realise how many little oil manufacturers have supplied the golden liquid that keeps the motor industry running. Almost every country and every region had countless local producers, with long-lost names such as Macoil, Diamond, Cordor, Dixon, Spidoléine, Standoleïne or Asoil. Unusually, Brandy prefers to avoid the internet and ebay fever |
and instead buys at autojumbles or swaps with fellow collectors. His most recent jumble find was a prewar French garage sign. Fearing the Wehrmacht under the occupation, a Clermont-Ferrand garagiste named Mathat removed the heavy wooden sign and hid it away.
Brandy's daily driving duties are shared by a 1937 Riley Kestrel, '53 Healey 100, '59 Frogeye Sprite and '70 Reliant Scimitar. His collection is augmented by tin toys from his childhood, such as his favourite Grand Prix Schuco and an Englishmade Scalex Ferrari. Although it is made from plastic, the 1:20 Tri-ang Electric Austin-Healey 100/6 is cherished, along with a pair of Taico Super Midgets made in occupied Japan, while a rare 1934 Renault Nervasport record car is the pick of the streamliners. Mario Laguna |
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