Ferrari 'Barn Find' on Display at DFW Elite Auto Rental.com

    DALLAS, TX, February 12, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The black Ferrari was so well hidden in the aging barn that many people passed right by it. But Ron Sturgeon, owner of DFW Elite Auto Rental.com, spotted it and knew he had to add the painting containing it to his collection.

Obscured by a tractor and a large rooster, the Ferrari in the painting, "Barn Find," by Stanley Rose, went overlooked by many at the Automotive Fine Arts Society exhibit at Pebble Beach in August 2008.

"I enjoyed the painting's sense of mystery, but what attracted me was the car in the background," says Sturgeon, a noted collector of cars and automobile-related art and memorabilia. "Art isn't the main focus my collection - I will only buy a painting if it really catches my eye."

Rose, whose studio is located on the grounds of a 13th century Burgundian chateau in France, drew inspiration from his surroundings to create the oil-on-canvas painting. Rose has surrounded himself with cars in his home environment, including an impressive collection of classic Hispano Suizas. However, the grounds are also home to more utilitarian vehicles, such as the tractor seen in the painting.

"I love painting complicated mechanical objects, and the tractor was an immense technical challenge," Rose says. "It was this complexity which helped disguise the fact that the picture was not really about the tractor, but about a black Ferrari in the back of a poorly lit barn. I loved the irony of it."

Rose selected the Ferrari GTO as his barn find because he viewed the sleek iconic car as the exact opposite of the cumbersome tractor. He included the rooster, Wallace, as a whimsical touch, and even attached some of the bird's feathers to the painting. He completed the piece in June 2008, and showed it at Pebble Beach two months later.

"Initially, the painting was, unimaginatively, entitled 'Ferrari GTO,' but at the AFAS Pebble Beach art exhibition, Ron Sturgeon suggested the title of 'Barn Find,' which I thought was much better," Rose says.

Sturgeon displays Rose's "Barn Find", complete with some of the rooster's real feathers "falling" from the painting - just as it was displayed at Pebble Beach. The painting is displayed in the front office of his Dallas-Fort Worth exotic car rental company.

"Barn Find" can be viewed at DFW Elite Auto Rental at 5940 Eden in Fort Worth. Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, with weekend hours by appointment. In Fort Worth, call 817.838. RENT (7368); in Dallas call 214.247.4700. For more information, visit them online at www.DFWEliteAutoRental.com.

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