Brooklands

Claude Flight

c. 1929 · Linocut on Japanese paper coated with a metal-flecked glaze · Drawings and Prints

In this linocut, Flight depicted a moment from the six-hour endurance race at the celebrated Brooklands track, whose events were widely covered in the press. The rhythmic movement of the three race cars, which at first appear to be a single car moving through space, reflects what Italian Futurists termed "the beauty of speed." Flame-like strips of color and the curving forms of the track and surrounding space amplify the feeling of velocity and mechanical force while also conveying the exhilaration of the spectators, an appropriate sensation as the track was specifically built to accommodate an audience. Opened in 1907, Brooklands was closely associated with British car racing, especially as numerous records for both speed and distance were set there.

Artist

Claude Flight

Date

c. 1929

Medium

Linocut on Japanese paper coated with a metal-flecked glaze

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, Leslie and Johanna Garfield Gift, Lila Acheson Wallace, Charles and Jessie Price, and David T Schiff Gifts, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, Dolores Valvidia Hurlburt Bequest, Peco Foundation and Friends of Drawings and Prints Gifts, and funds from various donors, 2019