This coming weekend at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca, our friend Nicolas Hunziker will be unveiling a new set of paintings. This trio of art pieces depict Steve McQueen in character as Michael Delaney from the 1971 film ‘Le Mans’. We have the exclusive preview of this series of paintings available for you to see right now, before their world debut.
The first painting in the trilogy sets the scene of Steve sitting on the nose of his 917 ‘hero car’ during a down moment of filming.
The second painting shows Steve getting ‘suited and booted’ before the racing action, and as the title of the piece intends, he’s emulating racing legend Jo Siffert in his lower face masking and open helmet.
Most of us would agree that the true hero of the film is the Gulf liveried 917, which goes on to take the fictional Le Mans victory in the film. This is the piece of the film that provides the visual and aural drama of the whole story. The car does a lot of the acting in the film, even, and provides a lot of necessary plot points to make the movie work.
Now, perhaps I’m biased because I come predisposed to liking the 917, the movie ‘Le Mans’, Steve McQueen, and even Nicolas’ artistic talents, but these are some excellent paintings. Ones I would certainly be proud to hang in my home, office, or garage.
Hunziker himself tends to agree. Here is what Nicolas had to say about this series:
“Paintings are a bit like children or pets or cars: You love them all and don’t have a favorite… but these three are about as good as anything that I’ve ever painted.”
The three original paintings will be available for sale at the track this weekend, the Hunziker booth is located just across the Michelin bridge at the inside of turns 3 and 4. They will also have posters and prints available for purchase, and we’ve been told that t-shirts will soon be available.