The BMW Art Car Project
History
The BMW Art Car Project was introduced by the French racecar driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain, who wanted to invite an artist to create a canvas on an automobile.
In 1975, Poulain commissioned American artist and friend Alexander Calder to paint the first BMW Art Car. This first example would be a BMW 3.0 CSL which Poulain himself would race in the 1975 Le Mans endurance race.
Since Calder’s work of art in 1975, many other renowned artists throughout the world have created BMW Art Cars on the basis of contemporary BMW automobiles.
BMW Art Cars are not only on display in their home — the BMW museum in Munich — they also travel internationally to exhibitions and museums in Asia, Europe and North America.
The BMW Art Cars
- Alexander Calder 1975
- Frank Stella 1976
- Roy Lichtenstein 1977
- Andy Warhol 1979
- Ernst Fuchs 1982
- Robert Rauschenberg 1986
- Michael Jagamara Nelson 1989
- Ken Done 1989
- Matazo Kayama 1990
- César Manrique 1990
- A.R. Penck 1991
- Esther Mahlangu 1991
- Sandro Chia 1992
- David Hockney 1995
- Jenny Holzer 1999
- Ólafur Elíasson 2007
- Jeff Koons 2010
- Cao Fei 2017
- John Baldessari 2016
- Julie Mehretu 2024
Rolling sculptures
For over 40 years, the BMW Art Car Collection has fascinated art and design enthusiasts — as well as lovers of cars and technology — all over the world with its unique combination of fine art and innovative automobile technology.
These “rolling sculptures” offer a wide range of artistic interpretations. When David Hockney created his Art Car in 1995, he painted the inside of the car on the outside, revealing everything from internal engine parts to a dog in the back.
Roy Lichtenstein on the other hand depicted the outer world on his car, from the sun to the tarmac. Robert Rauschenberg incorporated photographic transfers of classical paintings while Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons used the canvas of the car to portray the essence of speed.
BMW Group in America
BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles.
This also includes motorcycles, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, a strategic design consultancy in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley, and various other operations throughout the country.