These Limited-Edition Prints Meticulously Recreate Aston Martin’s DB5 and Valkyrie
The automobile has always been a canvas for artistic expression. After all, the world’s greatest coachbuilders simply found a new creative outlet when the horse-drawn carriage was eclipsed by the car. For the scale-model specialists at Amalgam, though, the automobile is muse for sculptured expressions of impeccably accurate miniature replicas of the world’s greatest supercars and classics.
Now, the UK-based atelier has expanded its portfolio to include limited-edition large-format prints, namely Amalgam’s Aston Martin Collection from artist Alan Thornton. The series, done in collaboration with the British marque, bookends Aston Martin’s current legacy with ultrarealistic representations of benchmarks from yesterday and today—the 1960’s-era DB5 coupe and the contemporary Valkyrie hypercar.
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Thornton, an artist who works in multiple mediums such as photography and silk-screen printing, first captures numerous high-resolution images of the Aston models in a studio setting. He then digitally deconstructs the result of the shoot, distilling it down to a pointillist study that would make Georges Seurat envious. He follows this up by employing hand-screen printing or dye-transfer techniques that can also incorporate gold leaf where appropriate. And rather than relying on a simple four-color palette, he combines an array of hues that are “mixed to represent each element of the car’s paint and material finishes,” according to Amalgam’s official announcement. And the prints are applied to a variety of surfaces, including brushed aluminum.
When asked by Robb Report to comment about this new offering, Amalgam’s founder Sandy Copeman stated: “As one of the founding partners of Amalgam since 1995, I’ve focused on curating the collection and refining the design and presentation of the models. It’s rare for me to come across something that grabs my attention and really lights my fire as Alan Thornton’s work has. Like the man himself, Alan’s art exudes technical virtuosity and authenticity, and we are extremely proud to collaborate with him to capture iconic cars like the DB5 and Valkyrie in really stunning pieces of art.”
Both the DB5 and Valkyrie represent Aston’s apex in engineering and styling for each respective era. Last year marked the 75th anniversary of the DB line and the 60th anniversary of the renowned DB5 in particular, a model that premiered in 1963, shot to superstardom on the big screen, and became the definition of motoring elegance and performance in period. As for the roughly $3 million Valkyrie, the carbon-fiber beast carries a hybrid V-12 setup making 1,160 hp and 663 ft lbs of torque. Having entered production in 2021, the Valkyrie will comprise only 150 examples.
“I’ve directed in the creative industry for several decades. It’s not often the stars align, and opportunities arise to engage with passionately creative and iconic brands like Amalgam and Aston Martin,” says Thornton, who is also accepting customer requests through Amalgam. “I feel privileged to be in such company and am relishing the opportunities ahead, particularly the prospect of working on commissions for private collections—capturing extreme classics and exotics in really big formats for their owners.”
This isn’t the first time Thornton has worked with Amalgam. In 2022, both teamed up with Emerson Fittipaldi to help the racer commemorate the 50th anniversary of his initial Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship title. The project comprised a gold-leaf-accented silk-screen print—measuring 3 feet x 4.5 feet—of Fittipaldi’s 1972 Lotus 72D race car. The series was limited to 50 examples, each signed by the hall-of-fame driver.
For Amalgam’s Aston Martin Collection, the limited-edition prints come in widths of 3.25 feet and nearly 5 feet, at a cost of $1,045 and $7,015, respectively. Of course, the price to commission a series of one’s own can be in the neighborhood of $50,000 or more, depending on the parameters of the request.
Click here for more photos of Amalgam’s Aston Martin Collection of fine-art prints.
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