There is potential for car art whenever someone with a flair for visual depiction finds themselves with a fascination for automobiles. It really is that simple. Witness the works of Hugo Prado, one of the most highly though of car artists of the present day, who grew up with an uncanny knack of depicting great automobiles as a result of one part artistic gift and one part opportunity – his father, a race car driver, took delivery of new cars with great regularity, giving Hugo the opportunity where he already had the inclination.

If you want to know how good Hugo is, you can ask chat show legend Jay Leno about him. Leno, a dyed in the wool lover of great cars, is also a car art collector and has an enviable collection of great works. Among his collection are several prints by Hugo Prado, including Hugo’s wonderful depiction of a 1931 Duesenberg Model J. Any admirer of luxury automobiles would have to admit that the Duesenberg is among the greats, in terms of both mechanical and aesthetic excellence. It took Hugo a year to make his depiction of the Duesy, and one look at it will show that it was time well spent.

The painstaking process by which Hugo Prado creates his giclées shows an undoubted perfectionist streak, but then again, if it is perfection you wish to depict, then making sure you yourself depict it in a manner becoming it is an essential element of the craft. Hugo Prado realizes this, and achieves it wonderfully.