Meet the Artist: David Uhl, the Painter Who Brought Harley-Davidson’s Past to Life

Few artists are as closely tied to Harley-Davidson as David Uhl. Uhl was born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1961, and his work with the Motor Company started on the commercial side. In 1993 he began creating art for Harley-Davidson’s best-selling apparel line as a commercial illustrator. Everything changed in 1998. That year he painted his first oil, “Change in the Weather,” based on historic motorcycle imagery, and it launched him as a licensed oil painter for Harley-Davidson. When he took that painting to the company’s Milwaukee headquarters, Harley welcomed him as its first-ever licensed oil painter. As a licensed artist, he can draw on photos from the Motor Company Archives, which is why his scenes of riders, racers, and machines from the 1920s through the 1940s feel so true to their era.

His standing among collectors goes well beyond motorcycles. Charles Osgood of CBS Sunday Morning called him “The Norman Rockwell of Harley-Davidson artists.” In 2013 he was asked to paint an exclusive piece to present to Pope Francis, and his work hangs in museums including the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, and the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum. In 2024, the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum inducted him into its Hall of Fame, recognizing him alongside Scott Jacobs and Daniel James for helping build the Harley-Davidson art legacy

The “Live the Legacy” auction of Patty Bush’s private collection, gathered during her years as owner of Doc’s Harley-Davidson in Kirkwood, includes eight works by David Uhl. Among them is “Time Trials” from 2001, which takes you to a 1921 speed trial, where a rider in a flying cap and goggles guides a Harley-Davidson sidecar outfit past a white rail fence as onlookers watch. This giclée on canvas is an Artist Proof, numbered IV of VI, and it is presented in an ornate gilt frame. Lot 92 shows a very different side of Uhl’s work: “The Huntress,” from his steampunk collection. Uhl’s first steampunk piece, “Steampunk Seduction,” was a departure for him, a fantasy work that places a modern custom motorcycle and model back in time. “The Huntress” carries that imagined world of brass and steam forward.This framed canvas print is numbered 19 of 60 and comes with a signed photograph. Together, the eight pieces show the range of an artist who can paint a 1921 race as faithfully as a world that never existed. Fans of Scott Jacobs will also find his work in the collection. Browse every lot at GRSAuctions.com and on LiveAuctioneers. Tap, Bid, Win.