The Crabbe Family

1999

44 x 52 inches

Collection: Private Commission

© Susan Ryder

Colin Crabbe ran a Formula One Team before heading Christie's Car department. He had also built up a fascinating collection of cars which was the starting point of this commission. The family had been planning it for sometime before they found me and the group had grown to include four dogs and as many highland cattle as suited me!

I'm afraid for compositional reasons, I vetoed Colin's favourite 1973 Yellow Porche in favour of the wonderful 1917 Stutz and even worse, I banished the yellow Labrador from pride of place to the middle distance. Amazingly for April the sun shone, the young appeared from their London life and everyone treated me with immense kindness not crowding round and commenting all the time, or so I thought! Until a smirk from Lucinda, clutching a pug, revealed the rest of the family watching my every brush stroke from the kitchen window with binoculars.