The First Victory

Porsche assembled a massive armada of 917s for its attack on Le Mans in 1970, its sole intent overall victory. At the end of the 24 hours in steadily changing weather conditions, two of their drivers, Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood, stood atop the podium soaking in the adulation of the cheering crowd after scoring the Stuttgart marque’s first outright win. That their victorious drive came in the second-line Salzburg entry was a bit of a surprise, but the other 917s had ultimately been consumed by the fierce battle with Ferrari’s 512s. This watercolor shows Herrmann braking for the slow left-hand Indianapolis corner on what is normally a public road. Capturing the effects of rain poses a difficult challenge for any watercolorist, since anything that should be white must be left unpainted as the image is composed. That requires all the other colors to be flowed in around the white parts while maintaining their own matching color densities, so this is, perhaps, one of the most complicated paintings ever. Herrmann signed the original in 2008, prior to its sale to a private collector, but a limited edition of print reproductions, on watercolor paper, is still available.

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