The Robert Fellowes Collection Grands Prix 1934-1939 - signed by Chris Nixon

The photography of Robert Fellowes has been unseen since 1948, when his friend Rodney Walkerley (`Grande Vitesse' of The Motor) published what was virtually a booklet about Grand Prix racing in the 1930s. Even the poor, post-war quality of the paper of that time could not disguise the fact that Fellowes, who had died of war wounds in 1945, was an outstanding photographer. More than half a century later, his work at last gets the exposure it deserves, thanks to Neil Corner. He bought Fellowes' negatives of Continental Grand Prix at auction 30 years ago and recently entrusted them to Chris Nixon, with the request that he select the best for a photo album, similar to his 1998 book, AUTO UNION ALBUM. The result is The Robert Fellowes Collection, an album comprising more than 300 photographs, most of which have never seen the light of day, with a Foreword by that doyen of motor racing photographers, Louis Klemantaski. No fewer than 26 Grand Prix races are covered and Chris Nixon has written a brief resume of each. The 1931 French, 1934 Monaco, French, Marne, German, 1935 Picardie, French, Dieppe, German, Coppa Acerbo, 1936 Eifel, Marne, German, Italian, 1937 Eifel, German, 1938, French, German, Coppa Ciano, Coppa Acerbo, Swiss, Italian, 1939 Eifel, Belgium, German and finally Swiss; during which events, he captured fantastic coverage of Alfa Romeo and the Silver Arrows of Mercedes Benz and Auto Union. Nixon has also researched the tragically brief life of Robert Fellowes, who proved hard to pin down, as he has no living close relatives or friends and left no written record of his travels, as he followed the Grand Prix circus of the thirties around Europe. It is interesting to see how Robert's work improved rapidly as he pursued his hobby, from the understandably incompetent efforts of the 20 year-old amateur of 1931 to the accomplished artist of 1938-39. By the time the Second World War put an end to everything, he had matured into a photographer of rare skill and vision, worthy of joining the pantheon of great pre- and post-war photographers such as George Monkhouse, Corrado Millanta, Louis Klemantaski, Yves Debraine, Kurt Warner, Rodolfo Mailander and one or two others.