The Story Behind The Paintings :
A series of interesting and informal insights from the artist about the creation of his paintings from their inception to their completion.
This painting has a personal side to it that most people would not normally realize – even those living in California and beyond. The scene in question is a main throughfare route from the City of London to central London – Trafalgar Square area. Depicted in this picture is the London Transport AEC RT 742 double decker bus which operated on the Route 13 for the majority of its initial life. It is one of the earlier Roofbox equipped buses that were commonplace before and after the Second World War. After its London service, it was purchased and given a new work assignment in the town of Davis in California. It worked extensively for the University Of California under the operational name of Unitrans.
When the well known British newsagent WH Smith and Sons decided to produce and market a special film entitled History of The RT bus in homeland England, this was also to include a section of filming about the operational London buses at Davis. A small team from both California and the UK came to shoot the buses both around the university, the town of Davis and also on the local Freeways. My small car, a Geo Tracker jeep at the time, was chosen because with the removal of its soft top, it made the perfect camera car. I was still allowed to drive it during the camera scenes. The film was later published and distributed by WH Smith. For the use of my car, my Liverpudlian friend and Operational Manager at UC Davis at the time, allowed me after some short training to drive this very bus RT742 around the roads within the University complex. It was my all time dream to drive one of these foremost quintessential London buses and a Rooftop version to boot! She is still operating in Davis, California for Unitrans
It was with this special experience and honour that I decided to paint RT742 as a subject matter but display her in her original surroundings of London. I had a massive love and affection for these type buses from when I was a small lad and desperately wanted to drive one in life. My dream did come true!
The painting was also a gift to Mr.Michael Dryhurst whose extensive knowledge and affection for these buses and others gave me the inspiration to complete such a painting. His love, like mine, for RT 742 was paramount and at one stage he almost tried to purchase her and repatriate her to the UK.
Huntly Maury
July 2017
Painting Completed in California 1996 Original Painting Size 15 x 22 inches