The BMW Group and Hatje Cantz Verlag have jointly presented a comprehensive publication on the legendary BMW Art Cars. The richly illustrated book is the first to provide an overview of the history of the automobile collection, which has existed since 1975 and was designed by important artists in the history of art.
In portraits and interviews, the motifs and approaches of the individual artists as well as the historical development of the collection are vividly presented.
Combining fine art and innovative vehicle technology
With its unique combination of fine art and innovative vehicle technology, the BMW Art Car Collection has fascinated art and design enthusiasts as well as car and technology lovers all over the world for almost 40 years. The collection was created when the French racing driver and art lover Hervé Poulain, together with the then BMW Motorsport Director Jochen Neerpasch, asked his artist friend Alexander Calder to design an automobile.
The result was a BMW 3.0 CSL, which competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1975 and became a crowd favorite. This was the birth of the BMW Art Car Collection.
17 works of art
A total of 17 international artists have designed BMW vehicles - including some of the biggest names in modern and contemporary art: 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), Olafur Eliasson (2007), Jeff Koons (2010).
Rolling sculptures
The "rolling sculptures" form a collection of diverse artistic interpretations. David Hockney's BMW Art Car from 1995 shows the interior of a car on its exterior - everything is made visible, from the engine to the dog in the back seat. Roy Lichtenstein, on the other hand, depicts the outside world on his car, from the sun to the road surface.
Robert Rauschenberg uses photographically transferred images of classical paintings, while Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons use the car as a canvas to depict speed.
200 richly illustrated pages
The BMW Art Car publication has 200 pages and 148 illustrations and is published by the art book publisher Hatje Cantz (ISBN 978-3-7757-3345-8; € 29.80). The book, designed by Schmid+Widmaier Design, can be "parked" in an accompanying slipcase. The cover design is by Jeff Koons. Numerous international experts and art historians provided valuable text contributions for the publication. The founders of the Art Car series, Hervé Poulain and Jochen Neerpasch, also have their say.
The book is available from Hatje Cantz Verlag, among others.
BMW has also set up its own website for the Art Cars, where the vehicles can be viewed in detail.
