Alain Moitrier Bolide Bugatti bronze sculpture

Bio

Born in Paris in 1941.

A car enthusiast since he was a schoolboy, at a very early age he used to cover his exercise books with sketches of fancy cars and later …pin-ups girls! Nevertheless his parents wanted him to take over the family business as they belong to a generation for whom " artist wasn't a true occupation".

After trying several business schools to no avail he started his professional life in 1963 but obstinate as he could be and being able to have little sleep he managed to have both activities on hand and made drawings after as well, he confessed later, during working time.

Really a car-minded freak not only does Alan draws them but also began to collect cars. He bought in 1959 his first collector' s car: a Citroën B14 he would swap later for a Triumph TR3.

Later on in 1967 he bought a Renault Gordini 1300 which he raced for some time in the Coupe Gordini but lack of money would restrain his participations to a few races and rallies. So he had to give up racing but still an enthusiast he will buy occasionally a number of old cars " dans leur jus" that he will restore sometime in his spare moments if he had any.

One day he met Hervé Morvan a well-known poster designer who introduced him to Terramorsi at the Agence Publicis but unsure of the new position he could get he kept his job in the family business while starting as an illustrator .

Fascinated by movement his first drawing which appeared in l'Automobile Magazine in 1964 was of .... an accident!

In fact, as a faithful reader of the comic magazine Spirou which published many motoring articles illustrated by Jidehem with fast moving cars, he had developed a taste for this kind of works.

In 1968 Alain wrote to Adrien Maeght the publisher of L'Automobiliste magazine who asked him to come and see him and for several years Alain made drawings for this magazine. They became quickly friends as they shared a common interest in collectors cars. Alain made also drawings to illustrate the articles written by his friends Jacques Potherat and Jean-Pierre Dauliac, and also for Le Fanatique de l'Automobile published by Serge Pozzoli. Also he painted several water colour works for private customers.

After some years as an exhibitor at Rétromobile, the first organizer Marc Nicolosi asked him to make the poster and Alain designed a dozen different posters including the 2006 one. He made posters for other events at Montlhéry or Chanteloup-les-Vignes and for his personal exhibitions in Paris (Closerie des Lilas) or Tokyo (Axis Gallery). Adrien Maeght who ran a artistic printing office, commissioned Alain to produce some lithographs.

In 1984, still looking to innovate, Alain decided to move to 3D works. He designed and made in clay a first sculpture: a Ferrari 250 GT SWB and showed it to Adrien Maeght who was enthusiastic and introduced him to his metal founder "Susse Fondeurs" established in Paris since 1740. Then leaving the family business Alan devoted himself to his new art allowing him to express his fondness for motion.

Aware of the difficulty he tries to have the inert material moving and to put as much motion as possible in his sculptures, mainly cars. The difficulty lies in the fact that he chooses to show existing cars and so has to comply with some accurate proportions. He selects his models among cars showing some sensuality in their shape and for fun he will create some fancy subjects like the work he named Figoni and other racers.

In 1987, Hervé Guio, the then MD of Honda France asked him to create a trophy for Honda in the shape of the NXR entered in the Paris-Dakar Rally. A journalist of Moto Verte magazine Didier Coste wrote about it a superb article. This new attempt at celebrating the racing motor bike moved Alain to another "coup de cœur" this time for the sheer dash of the Supermarine floatplane at taking-off.

In 1988 thanks to his friend photographer Jean-Paul Caron who had introduced him to the Japanse car magazine Car Graphic (for which he had already made many illustrations) Alain had the opportunity to exhibit his works at the Axis Gallery in Tokyo.

Since he had displayed his works at Bagatelle, Monaco, Lausanne (Switzerland), Saragossa (Spain), Pebble Beach, Blackhawk, Nantucket Island (USA), Goodwood and Silverstone (UK) and each year at Retromobile, of course.

For some years since 1993 in order to extend his customers (the works cast at Susse Fondeurs are quite expensive) Alain worked with another founder, Fonderie Chapon, which specializes only in the lost wax process.

Always looking for expressing motion Alan realized that the driver's attitude contributes to the car's dynamic look. He then decided to create some sculptures of drivers at the wheel. Since 1997 and for some years he made some trophies for l'Automobile Magazine which were presented to many Formula One prominent drivers and car makers.

At the same time Alain met Jacques Dreux the MD of Continental France who asked him to make some trophies to be presented each year by the tyre company. Every time they meet as friends now is an opportunity to share a common fondness for old motoring objects.

That is the path followed by Alain among the collectors cars circles since 1964, always happy to combine work and passion and supported by many friends as always a true enthusiastic as he started and as he still is.