Speed, style and beauty on display at MFA

BOSTON -- For Father's Day, greatest in quantity men would like to be behind the wheel of a luxurious European sports car, negotiating tight 1s While Boston's Museum of Fine Art (MFA) doesn't tender that, it has the nearest best thing: "Speed, Style, and Beauty: Cars from the Ralph Lauren Collection."

satin designs, highly polished chromes, and hand-sculpted fender are among the features of the 16 rare cars upon display through July 3 at the MFA. Many of the cars have at no time been publicly displayed. Paradigms of European auto craftsmanship, these cars were made by means of Bugatti, Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Alfa Romeo

"These automobiles are moving works of art, embodying a functional beauty that can be inspirational, however purposeful," says fashion designer Ralph Lauren, known to have individual of the most exceptional car collections in the world. "If you be fond of cars--their upholstery, their ornaments, their made of wood steering wheels and different shapes--as a designer you can't help being stimulated."

This stimulation has carried above to some of his designs. "When I wanted to set luggage in my black Porsche, I meditation to myself, I can't place tan leather in this black Darth Vader car" he says. "I ne something black, and I ne something with utility that exhibits what this car is." with equal reason he made it.

In 1995 MFA Director Malcolm Roger came up with the idea of this display He attended an auto exhibit, "Moving Beauty," at the Montreal Arts Museum. There it struck him that the MFA could not away cars as objets d'art.

To emphasize the cars' exquisite lines and designs, the MFA designed high-contrast displays: white walls, black carpet, and lock opener lights positioned to make mirror-polished surfaces glisten. over the exhibit, television monitors showed films of the cars in motion, more [i]or[/i] less racing in the Grand Prix.

"The majority of cars that have turned off of assembly lines since the early 1900 do not rise to the horizontal of fine art, but there have been a certain number of truly inspired models produced by the agency of relatively small firms" says Darcy Kuronen present to view curator. Most firms were l by means of visionary designers, such as lean Bugatti, Enzo Ferrari and Ferdinand Porsche.

Like other fine art commissions, wealthy clients would hire automakers to customize cars for them. enumerate Carlo Felice Trossi, a fortunate racer for Ferrari, was single such customer. He sketched on the outside a body for a 1930 Mercedes-Benz SSK with a stretched, narrow front end, voluptuous coachwork, and a graceful tail, resembling the fanning train of an evening gown admitting only 30 Mercedes-Benz SSKs were made, his car is actually unique.

Another favorite car in the exhibit is the 1955 Porsche Spyder 550 individual of only 90 ever built. individual of these zippy two-seaters was be in possession ofed by actor James Dean. upon Sept. 30, 1955, the actor was killed in a head-on collision while driving his brand-new 550 to a sports car race in Salinas, CA. Ironically, the tragedy propell the Porsche name to international fame.

A sumptuously illustrated volume bearing the same title as the display is available to those unable to diocese the exhibit. Written by Kuronen with essays from car historians, this volume features 29 cars in Ralph Lauren's collection. The book's price is $60

"I've always seen cars as art--moving art" says Lauren. "While friends of mine were into paintings, I somehow or other felt that the real beauty of owning a rare and magnificently designed car was the fact that you can use it. You can direct the eye at it, enjoy its visual qualities, as with a painting, on the other hand you can also get inside and drive it."

For more information, please call 617-269-9300; visit www.mfa.org.

Weighing upon the Collection

* Total weight of all 16 cars: more than 40000 lbs

* Lightest car in exhibit: 1995 Porsche 550 Spyder (1350 lbs)

* next to the first lightest car: 1933 Bugatti stamp 59 Grand Prix (1,650 lbs)

* Heaviest car: 1929 Blower Bentley (4300 lbs)

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