Thursday, September 17, 2009


The BMW Art Car was conceived in 1975, the year that French auctioneer and racecar driver Herve Poulain first entered 24 Hours of Le Mans. Searching for a link between art and motorsport, Poulain asked his friend, noted artist Alexander Calder, to commission a rolling canvas on the BMW 3.0 CSL that he would race. In the years that followed, this unique combination of motorsport and BMW design fascinated the famous artists of our time. Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol have all turned BMW racing cars into Art Cars.

Since 1975, outstanding artists from all over the world have been designing the BMW automobiles of their era. The BMW Art Car Collection include works by well-known artists such as Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, A.R. Penck, David Hockney and Jenny Holzer. The Art Cars reflect the developments in art history with regard to fine art, design and technology and are displayed worldwide in major museums such as the Paris Louvre, the Royal Academy in London, the New York Whitney Museum of Modern Art, Venice's Palazzo Grassi, Sydney's Powerhouse Museum and the Guggenheim Museums of New York and Bilbao. In the future, too, Art Cars will document the fascinating link between art and technology in international exhibitions.

Chronological list of all BMW Art Cars.

Alexander Calder (USA) 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL

Frank Stella (USA) 1976 BMW 3.0 CSL

Roy Lichtenstein (USA) 1977 BMW 320i Group 5 Race Version

Andy Warhol (USA) 1979 BMW M1 Group 4 Race Version

Ernst Fuchs (Austria) 1982 BMW 635 CSi

Robert Rauschenberg (USA) 1986 BMW 635 CSi

Michael Jagamara Nelson (Australia) 1989 BMW 635 CSi

Ken Done (Australia) 1989 BMW M3 Group A Race Version

Matazo Kayama (Japan) 1990 BMW 535i

César Manrique (Spain) 1990 BMW 730i

A.R. Penck (Germany) 1991 BMW Z1

Esther Mahlangu (South Africa) 1991 BMW 525i

Sandro Chia (Italy) 1992 BMW 3 Series Racing Prototype

David Hockney (Great Britain) 1995 BMW 850CSi

Jenny Holzer (USA) 1999 BMW V12 LMR