I recently had the opportunity to roll in to Rancho Santa Fe,California and witness the unveiling of Scott Jacobs latestpainting, “Photo Finish”. All three champions depicted in the painting,Chris Carr, Scott Parker andJay Springsteen knelt down for a photo opportunity in the setting Californiasun in front of Scott’slatest masterpiece. The crowd of media representatives was dazzled by hisprecise workmanshiponce more.
That did it. I felt that I needed to share with the brothersand sisters of Bikernet the history of Segal Fine Art and themotorcycling eye-candy that accompanies it. The story is one of apassion for Harleys that comes alive in so many creative forms. Perhaps I cansimply give you a taste of some of the aspects of this wonderful history inwords, like a man separated from his woman for a long period, thesensation he has when he first touches the delicate fuzz on herforearm and feels the comforting sensation rush through him. A custom bike or the art that represents it can afford me that rush.
Ron started this business in 1984 representing two talentedartists Ting Shao Quan and Marco Sassone. By the early ’90s Ron hadacquired 60 employees and established Segal Fine Art and GregoryEditions. When I asked Greg Segal, Ron’s son, the ingredient to Ron’ssuccess he said, “He is a very good businessman and he treats people fairly.” Thebusiness consisted of representing these art talents, selling theiroriginals and determining which art pieces would be good material forlimited edition prints or lithos.
Ron was riding an eye-candy wave that began in his Woodland Hills, CAgarage, but the professional art world wiped out in the ’90s.Segal split off from Gregory Editions and began to ride out the pooreconomic conditions.
In 1993, Scott Jacobs owned an art gallery and was a Segalcustomer. His representative was Ron Copple who visited Scott fromtime to time. Scott owned a Fatboy and had been a dirtbike competitor since he was a kid. Scott painted portraits of famouspeople, when Ron suggested that he paint his passion, motorcycles. Hedid and his second piece was “Live To Ride” which the Segal groupdecided to print. They hit on the road and went to Sturgis where they setup a 10 by 10 booth on Main and woke up to a 9:00 a.m. opening,working the booth until midnight. Amongst their visitors were a few H-D execs who were moved by Scott’s abilities and the Segalpresentation. That helped open a door at the factory that had never beenajar in the past. Scott became the first Harley-Davidson licensedartist.
“FatBoy 2000” by Jacobs
An evolution began to take place throughout the dealernetwork. In the beginning, dealers did not purchase the prints forsale, but generally to decorate their dealerships. The Segal groupbegan a training process to teach dealers how to sell prints of limited edition, finemotorcycle art. It wasn’t until ’99 that 400 dealers carried theirart. There are 85 pieces currently available, some dealers carry a stock of 30or more and some buy every new piece that becomes available. As youreyes wander through some of these works you’ll understand why somedealers want at least one fine example of each creation. Theycurrently have three motorcycle artists creating masterworks ofHarley-Davidson related art. In a standard edition they print 100 smallsized prints, 150 medium sized prints, 100 large and an additional 100 deluxe prints on canvas.
You can imagine that with each creation comes a certainamount of notoriety. The launching of each piece is tantamount tohaving a child or building a new bike and having it recognized with afeature. I don’t know if I can explain accept by example. If a dealerannies up to buy a particular package of prints, a representative ofSegal and one of their three artists will hop a flight out to thedealership for a special event. Recently, such an occasion took placeat the Wild Boar H-D in Hudsonville, Michigan near Grand Rapids. Greg wasimpressed by a every day looking rider who entered the shop with his wife. They immediately fell in love with David Uhl’s Enthusiast and withoutblinking plunked $2,550 for the 100th anniversary canvas. Before the night was over, they purchased another piece of art and an ’03 two tone Heritage Springer. As it turned outthe man has been fighting bone-marrow cancer for years. The treatments had rendered him too weak to handle certain situations on his bike. Instead of giving up on riding, he switched to a side car. Now his cancer is in remission and he feels strong enough to ride, thus the Springer. “That was a couple was everything that I love about this job in a nutshell. They were passionate about life, riding, the artwork and each other.”
That same night another couple came into the dealership andthe mister was moved by one of the pieces on display called “Catch ofthe Day”. As a matter of fact, he must have stared at it for half an hour. Uncomfortable with spending the $700 plus for the piece he shrugged his shoulders andleft the dealership. His wife snuck back in and dropped a creditcard on the counter. Scott made a point to personalize the print, andlater that evening the couple returned to the dealership. When he saw the “Sold” sign on his piece, he was crushed. Upon looking closer he noticed that the sign was actually an anniversary card from his wife. He was so moved by the inscription, the art and his wife’s efforts that he and everyone around got a little emotional.
Another time Greg flew to Oaxaca, Mexico to celebrate a oncein a life time HOG rally in the small mountain community. Each yearthe Mexican HOG Group travels to another city to celebrate the rally. The
Segal group shipped lithos and canvas prints unframed to thedealership. The locals framed each selection in the traditional bold, bright green andblood red frames. “The choice of the frames had nothing to do with bringing out subtle highlights in the image,” Greg said cringing, “but the people lovedthem.” Willie G. and Jeff Bleustein rode in the parade through townwhich drew people out of the hills who had never seen a Harley in the community that was home to Mayan ruins. “The response was an incredible experience. Everybody on a bike was treated like a celebrity.”Greg said.
As you will see, we have examples and biographies on eachartist. This year is obviously special with the 100th anniversaryand four fine art lithographs to represent this historic birthday. “Growing up around the art business, I got to know the stereotypical artist…high maintenance, egocentric, a little nuts,” Greg said of the typical artists’mentality, “It is a priviledge to work with Tom, David and Scott, who don’t fit the artist mold. Each one is good people, down to earth and a delight to work with.”
For the 100th anniversary each piece was printed on 250 framedcanvas presentations graced with the 100th logo–all of which have sold out.Still they printed 1200 lithos of each creation in one size. They areall triple matted and framed with a 100th anniversary logos and onlyavailable through Segal or your local dealership.
Segal Fine Arts is now housed in a 60,000 square footbuilding in Louisville, Colorado. Doug Komhyr of Van Gogh Again Editions handles all of their printing and happens to be their only tennant. They are located under the looming ContinentalDivide between Boulder, Colorado and Denver. Five dogs and twoHarleys accompany the crew of 11 on a daily basis. While they makea living in one of the most beautiful areas of the country,it’s representing motorcycle art that makes a grown man cry, others wish forthe open road and women understand why we ride.
–Bandit
Scott worked closely with Willie G. on project: Willie selected allbikesfrom the archives. Each bike has special significance in H-D’shistory.Scott used 000 brush (pencil point size) resulting in over 400 hrs.time spent on actual brush to canvas.Prospective is that all tank logos and tops of engines exposed forhistorical accuracy.Scott’s most challenging work to date with detail so acute he even usedMetallic inks on some of the tanks for visual accents.This work is considered a major accomplishment in the Photo-RealisticStyle of fine art. Given the complexity of the detail of the bikes,this painting is the benchmark by which all other photo-realisticworks will be judged.(Note: Years of the bikes from earliest; 1905, 1915, 1921, 1933,1936, 1981, 2002.)
Depiction is from H-D’s archives; circa 1914. Scene shows first racebike, which had just won its maiden race. Important from thisstandpoint: Bike models that won races = bike models that sold well.Discussion around bike is by H-D execs and Press praising innovationsof bike and talking about how to improve capabilities.Difficulty from a technical standpoint: Lighting on an indoorpainting is crucial due to its refraction off the different objectsin the room. Painting from a poor quality black and white photopresents no keys to the artist as to gradations of shadows orintensity of light. Notice that a subtle light embraces each of thesubject’s expressions constituting the character of the painting.The best part: “SEPARATE FROM THE PACK”, the modern mantra ofToday’s rider can be traced back to 1914. Notice that every personis wearing a different style of hat; a commentary on individualism.
Tom’s palette is rich with color and imagination. Depiction is afather and son at a board-track race. Strength and determinationare the themes of this work.Lighting is key to the composition; Looking off into the sunset, feelthe warmth as it is absorbed by the central subjects. Tom usesshadow to accentuate the rays of sunshine gleaming from the bike.This is a painting that could easily be over-explained so we’llsummarize: Harleys, racing, lineage, patriotism, awesome painting,good job Tom!
Classic “Light and Shadow Painting”; main subjects (woman and bike)are enveloped in warm sunshine as the background serves more as asuggestion to the story. Colors dance in the shadows and disappearinto atmospheric shapes.Out for a ride on a splendid day, she stops by the post-office andpicks up the latest edition of ENTHUSIAST magazine. As she kicksback, the viewer is reminded of what it’s all about: Sunshine andHarley-Davidsons. The issue is circa 1953 so we are at the mid-pointof the centennial.As we begin to gravitate from the main subjects, the focus becomesthe diminutive gas attendant cowering next to the pump wondering whatto do now. Or maybe he’s just admiring her from afar; we are simplyleft to wonder. All good art is just a window to our imaginations.Masterpiece of epic proportions; enough said.
Bios on the artists:
TOM FRITZ
For those who are not familiar with this award-winning artist, it iseasily seen that he is extremely passionate about his work. Tom has aparticular style and brushstroke, which allows him to bring his subjects tolife. The way he integrates intense colors and soft lines makes his imagesjump off the canvas.
His work can be found in many private and corporate collections aroundthe world, including General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Pittsburgh Paintand Glass, and Petersen Publishing Company. In 1999, Fritz completed afour-painting commission for Harley-Davidson Motor Company, depicting theircolorful history. The finished works were published in the 1998 AnnualReport and were later reproduced as a highly successful limited-editionseries of prints.
Tom draws much of his inspiration from his family. He shares a home withwife Molly and their two children, daughter Emily and son Wesley. Withouttheir support and encouragement he could not jump on board the wild ridethat an artist’s life seems to dictate.
DAVID UHL
David Uhl is an artist’s artist. His technique, realistic with animpressionistic flair, breathes fantastic life into even the most ordinaryof subject matter. He is now among the select few officially licensed fineartists of Harley-Davidson Motor Company.
An avid rider since 1988, Uhl’s passion finally coincided with hisartistic talent. Upon viewing his work, Harley-Davidson allowed him intotheir guarded archives, to research vintage photos for his paintings.Captivated by Harley’s extraordinary history, he has set out to memorializethe legacy. David Uhl’s work reflects his ability to place himself into eraspast and capture the prevailing pioneer spirit witnessed throughout Harley’srich history. Some day we will all be saying “I knew him when…”
SCOTT JACOBS
Although Scott Jacobs drew pen-and-ink illustrations for his schoolnewspaper, he actually began his career in art by purchasing a failinggallery at the age of nineteen. At twenty-one, Scott opened Reflections onCanvas Gallery in Westfield, N.J., a gallery that he turned into a stellarsuccess. After receiving a set of paints from his wife for Christmas, Scottbecame passionate about painting. He now has a body of work that confirmsthe wisdom of that gift.
Scott merged his love of motorcycles with his tremendous abilities tobecome the first ever officially licensed Harley-Davidson artist. Scott’smotorcycle work as been featured in VQ Magazine, American Iron, Art BusinessNews, Easyriders Magazine, U.S. Art, Art World News, as well as a host ofother publications. Jacobs is one of todays most sought after artists andhis work sells throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia.
Century Canvas Available From Segal
Just a quick note to say we have a few Phase I canvases available onDrae’s 100th Anniversary artwork: “Century”. Any customer with a2003 Fatboy is a prime candidate for this very limited piece. Itcomes with 100th frame package; while they last.
–My best, RonCopple 800-999-1297
For information on ordering, contact your local Harley-Davidson(R) Dealer or Segal Fine Art directly throughtheir website: www.motorcycleart.com or at 800-999-1297.
