In the news recently, a BMW "art car" was sold for $770,000 at action:
BMW "art cars" are simply versions that have been painted by an artist. The above is a BMW M1 painted by Frank Stella. Luckily, the BMW Museum had a collection of many of their "art cars" on display when we visited (it was a "special exhibit"). We'll end our series on the BMW Museum by looking at some of these objets d'art.
The first art car was in collaboration with Alexander Calder. It's a BMW 3.0 CSL, 1975. 430hp. This actually raced in Le Mans! (Most are not really driven) Calder did not paint this himself. He painted a toy car, then a 1:5 scale model, and handed it over to BMW to replicate on the actual car:
Frank Stella. BMW 3.0 CSL, 1976. Also raced LeMans. Inspired by engineering drawings and charts:
Roy Lichtenstein. BMW 320, 1977.
Andy Warhol. BMW M1, 1979. First artist that actually painted the car himself (rather than submit a scale model to car painting specialists). Some paint is quite thick, creating texture:
Ernst Fuchs. BMW 635CSi, 1982. Called "Firefox":
Michael Jagamara Nelson. BMW M3, 1989. Rooted in / inspired from aboriginal patterns:
Ken Done. BMW M3, 1989. Motif partly based on the colorful parrotfish (so Frau A should like this one):
Matazo Kayama. BMW 535i, 1990:
A.R. Penck. BMW Z1, 1991:
Sandro Chia. BMW M3, 1992:
David Hockney. BMW 859CSi, 1995:
Jenny Holzer. BMW V12 LMR, 1999. This was my personal favorite, both for the car and the "art".
Here is a summary of the text on the car:
Top: "Protect me from what I want" (If you only see the hood, it simply reads "What I Want". Very cool)
Seat: "What urge will save us now that sex won't?"
Left: "The unattainable is unvariably attractive"
Right: "You are so complex you don't respond to danger"
Back: "Monomania is a prerequisite of success"
Spoiler: "Lack of charisma can be fatal"
Which is your favorite? What artists should be the next to paint a BMW?