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The BMW Art Car Collection has been merging fine art with engineering artistry for 45 years.
BMW’s fourth Art Car, a BMW M1 customised by Andy Warhol in 1979, has recently appeared at the India Art Fair in New Delhi.
But the Warhol M1 is just one of 19 produced over the past 45 years, and this is a taste of all of them. The BMW Art Car collection is stored in Munich and one of them is always on display at the BMW Museum in the city.
Here we list both car and artist in chronological order:
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Alexander Calder - BMW 3.0 CSL (1975)
The collection began when French racing driver and art lover Herve Poulain, along with BMW Motorsport Director Jochen Neerpasch, invited American sculptor Alexander Calder (1896-1976) to design a car that married "artistic excellence" to an "already perfect object”.
That object was a 480bhp straight-six BMW 3.0 CSL. Poulain went on to drive it at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1975 where it instantly became a crowd favourite. It was forced to retire from the race due to a defective prop shaft and has been on display ever since.
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Frank Stella - BMW 3.0 CSL (1976)
Using a graph paper design to highlight every curve, ridge and indentation of this CLS's bodywork, American artist Frank Stella ushered in a new meaning of the term three dimensional.
The CLS Stella got to work on was capable of 212mph thanks to its 750bhp straight-six, but like the 1975 model was let down by its mechanicals, failing at both the Le Mans 24-Hour race and the 500km race at Dijon that year.
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Roy Lichtenstein - BMW 320i Turbo Group 5 (1977)
One year on, BMW appeared to get its mechanical act together as its third Art Car finished in the top 10 overall and first in its class at Le Mans. The four-cylinder engine produced 300bhp.
American artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) is widely acknowledged to be one of the founders of the Pop Art movement. Through his love of expressionism, Lichtenstein wanted to emulate a car’s passing landscape in his design.
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Andy Warhol - BMW M1 Procar Group 4 (1979)
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) was another key player in the American Pop Art movement. With his take on the M1, Warhol tried to produce a “vivid depiction of speed” through a vibrant colour scheme on this 470bhp racing version of one of BMW's most iconic cars.
Unlike the three previous Art Cars, Warhol painted directly onto the car instead of allowing technicians to transfer scale models of their designs to the car.
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Ernst Fuchs - BMW 635CSi (1982)
This was BMW’s first Art Car based on a production model rather than a racing derivative. This design from Ernst Fuchs (1930-2015) was only ever intended to be an exhibit, meaning it never made it to the road or track.
The Austrian artist was known for his use of vibrant colour – he was one of the founders of the Vienna School of fantastic realism – and that’s certainly not lost on this design.
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Robert Rauschenberg - BMW 635CSi (1986)
“I think mobile museums would be a good idea. This car is the fulfilment of my dream." The words of Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) after he experimented with photographic techniques in order to portray the environmental problems associated with the automotive industry.
This decorated 6 Series features a 211bhp straight-six engine and was, just like it's predecessor, destined for gallery confinement, never to see the outside world.
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Michael Jagamara Nelson - BMW M3 Group A (1989)
Aboriginal abstraction was the theme of BMW’s next piece as Australian artist Michael Jagamara Nelson (born 1949) channelled his indigenous roots to create a geometrical impression of Aussie wildlife.
The subject of his artistic exploit was a four-cylinder 300bhp M3. It went on to compete for BMW Australia’s motor racing team and win the Australian AMSCAR Championship.
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Ken Done - BMW M3 Group A (1989)
The same model was used by another Australian artist, but the results were entirely different. This vivid representation of Australian wildlife, most prominently depicting parrots and parrot fish, is typical of artist Ken Done, well known for depicting, among other things, famous landmarks.
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Matazo Kayama - BMW 535i (1990)
Like the two 635CSi models previously mentioned, this E34 5 Series was made for exhibition purposes only. Decorated by Japanese artist Matazo Kayama (1927-2004), this fast saloon received a touch of Japanese flair through his use of a native ‘foil print’ technique.
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César Manrique - BMW 730i (1990)
Climbing to the upper echelons up the company’s saloon range, this 7 Series was subject to a burst of dynamic Spanish charm as Cesar Manrique (1919-1992) depicted his idea of “effortlessly gliding without resistance”.
The 188bhp luxury car spent the rest of its days in a showroom like all other production car-based pieces from the Art Collection.
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AR Penck - BMW Z1 (1991)
Already a work of art in the eyes of many thanks to the creativity of its designers and engineers, improving on the Z1 may have seemed a tall order for German artist AR Penck (1939-2017).
Penck’s ladybird-like concept on this six-cylinder sports car was actually a representation of prehistoric cave paintings, but was largely left open to interpretation.
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Esther Mahlangu - BMW 525i (1991)
BMW’s fourth Art Car in two years was based on another production car. This time however, a whole new culture was incorporated as South African Ester Mahlangu (born 1935) became the first African artist to collaborate with the German giant.
The distinctive Ndebele pattern used on this 250bhp saloon derives from the Ndebele tribe, which the artist’s mother was part of.
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Sandro Chia - BMW M3 GTR (1992)
After a four model break from Art Car motorsport, BMW reconnected with its racing heritage by commissioning Italian painter Sandro Chia (born 1946) to put his spin on a 3 Series racer good for nearly 190mph.
As a child growing up in the renaissance city of Florence, Chia practised graffiti on cars as he saw them as “the centre of attraction”.
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David Hockney - BMW 850CSi (1995)
Renowned for his flamboyant, energetic pieces that have made him one of the most influential British artists of the 20th Century, David Hockney (born 1937) was given the production car to suit.
Hockney attempted to turn this 850CSi inside out as if someone could "see inside”. This was most notably characterised by the interpretation of the engine’s intake manifold displayed on the bonnet. The 850CSi boasted a V12 that produced 380bhp and is by far the most highly-regarded E31 8 Series derivative today.
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Jenny Holzer - BMW V12 LMR (1999)
American artist Jenny Holzer (born 1950) formed the most unique project in Art Car history as she transformed a purebred V12 racer using words alone. A concept artist, she rejected all traditional forms of fine art and worked exclusively with words.
A total of 580bhp was enough to take the LMR to 214mph on the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans. However, this particular Art Car wasn’t used, and a different LMR went on to win the title that year.
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Ólafur Eliasson - BMW H2R (2007)
The H2R was a racecar able to run on liquid hydrogen in tandem with a straight-twelve engine. This model however has had its outer layer replaced by two reflecting layers of superimposed metal. Ice makes up the structure as part of the artist’s plan to enlighten people about renewable energy and global warming.
Ólafur Eliasson is a Danish-Icelandic artist known for sculptures and large scale installation art.
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Jeff Koons - BMW M3 GT2 (2010)
This M3 GT2 racer saw a return to the more traditional methods, and by exaggerating the dynamic nature of this racer, Jeff Koons (born 1955) displayed his idea of speed, power and explosions through his eccentric use of colour.
At Le Mans the car wore the number 79 as a tribute to Andy Warhol’s 1979 Art Car, but it had to retire a few hours into the race. Famed for his pop culture references, Koons’ work is among the most valuable by any living American artist.
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John Baldessari - BMW M6 GTLM (2016)
As a minimalist, John Baldessari (1931-2020) worked exclusively with yellow, blue, green and red on a monochrome background on this M6 racer.
The minimalist artwork contrasted directly to the power and excitement derived from the V8 under the bonnet, one that could produce up to 585bhp depending on racing classification.
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Cai Fei - BMW M6 GT3 (2017)
In its original carbon black colour scheme, this V8 M6 GT3 appeared to bear little difference over the car on which it’s based. Though that may be the case to the naked eye, the Chinese artist Cai Fei (born 1978) took a modern approach with three components.
One is the original black car itself, another is a video focusing on time travel and the other is an augmented reality accessible through an app that depicts light particles.
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