Michael Turner, artist celebrated for his paintings of motor racing and aviation

Michael Turner, who has died aged 91, was described by Jackie Stewart as “probably the best-known motoring artist in the world”.

An illustrator of all things motoring, as well as of aviation, Turner combined scrupulous technical accuracy with a dramatic sense of the emotion of movement. He was to the golden era of Grand Prix, and to the jet age, what David Shepherd was to African wildlife and railway locomotives.

From Fangio and Ascari, through Brooks, Clark, Moss and Graham Hill, to Peterson, Mansell, Senna, Damon Hill, Button, Coulthard and Alonso, Turner accurately captured them all – and their cars – in action. He designed the 1960s McLaren logo for Bruce McLaren’s rapidly emerging team and created their 1966 Formula One car livery.

Turner’s illustrations were used as official material for motor racing events, notably for the Le Mans 24 Hours race, and meetings at Goodwood, Monaco and across Europe. In the United States he designed dynamic posters for the US Grand Prix, and for the racing circuits of Sebring and Watkins Glen.

Influenced by Terence Cuneo and Frank Wootton, Turner’s paintings in oil, acrylic and gouache offered startling angles. His 1970 painting (and bestselling print) of a Royal Navy Phantom taking off from Ark Royal was a particular highlight. Paintings of scenes from the Falklands War, and visceral views of the Formula One highlights of the 1980s and 1990s, earned him new audiences.

Geoffrey Michael Turner was born on March 14 1934 in Harrow, then in Middlesex. His father was an amateur artist; Geoffrey recalled being inspired by the air battles over London during the Second World War and sketching such aircraft in his schoolbooks.

Youthful bus trips with his mother to visit Northolt aerodrome, where RAF fighter squadrons were based, provided some of his earliest sketches. So, too, did a 1947 family holiday to the Isle of Man, where Turner sketched a round of the British Empire Trophy motor racing series. He recalled that he was immediately intoxicated by the sense of speed from the cars.

Encouraged by his parents, as a teenager he began to travel to motorsport events to sketch. Leaving school, in 1950 he enrolled at Heatherley School of Fine Art to study illustration, and was trained by Gilmore Roberts, who went on to found the London Film School. His cinematographic eye was an important influence on Turner.

Turner’s studies were interrupted by National Service with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers; he was based at the REME depot in London, allowing him to continue his studies at night classes. He then spent three years as a junior with a London advertising agency.

Publication in The Motor, and an early exhibition at the Steering Wheel Club, led to his first commission: a poster for the British Racing Drivers Club. He went freelance in 1957, and within two years he was a member of the Kronfeld Aviation Art Society, a precursor to the Guild of Aviation Artists, of which he became president. He would also become honorary fellow of the Guild of Motoring Artists.

In 1963 he founded Studio 88 with his wife Helen as a vehicle for selling his artworks; an annual range of Christmas cards became sought-after collectors’ items. In later years he ran the company with his son Graham, a historical illustrator.

Having flown with the RAF and the Red Arrows for commissions, aged 55 Turner decided to learn to fly himself, and went on to own a de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk.

In later years Turner attended hill-climb events in his rare 1939 Jaguar SS100 3.5 litre, which he had wisely bought aged 21, when such cars were postwar bargains.

His books included a well-received collaboration with Chas Parker, The Michael Turner Collection. He was well known for his kindness and willingness to engage with his fans.

Turner’s wife Helen, whom he married in 1960, died in 2023, and he is survived by two daughters and a son.

Michael Turner, born March 14 1934, died December 1 2025

[Source: Daily Telegraph]