The Legacy of the Car, the Legacy of the Artist
Image credit: BMW Art Car #1 by Alexander Calder at Le Mans, France, 1975
For some, like my late grandfather, cars were objects of devotion. After a life as an innovator and hardworking mechanical engineer, he spent his retirement tending to and cherishing a collection
of bespoke vehicles – fascinated not only by their engineering but by the aura each model projected. The red Ferrari, for instance, was always faster, not for its speed, but its legacy. Cars are an integral part of contemporary life, bound to memory and imagination. They are not merely machines but vessels of identity and cultural resonance.
Colour and design have always been at the heart of the modern car. When you think of your dream car, the picture comes to mind vividly – its shade and shape. Consider the metallic shine of the DeLorean, the bold turquoise Thunderbird from Thelma & Louise, or every Bond car, with its smooth design, carrying the same quiet danger as 007 himself. Each of these vehicles tells its story through how it is presented to the world. These narratives of speed, freedom and aspiration point to something larger.
Image credit: Ken Done painting BMW Art Car #8. Photo: Michel Zumbrun: BMW Art Car #8 by Ken Done Photo: Enes Kucevic. © BMW AG 2025
For fifty years, BMW Art Cars have offered artists a rare canvas – one that moves, roars, and races. What began as a single experiment has evolved into a collection that redefines the intersection of art, design, and engineering.
To mark this remarkable half-century, the BMW Art Car Collection embarks on a world tour, showcasing the collection that embodies the company’s long-standing commitment to creativity and cultural exchange. From Alexander Calder to Julie Mehretu, each Art Car tells its own story.
In 1975, French racing driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain dreamed of merging his 2 lifelong passions – art and motorsport. His idea was simple but revolutionary: to enter a BMW in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, painted by an artist. From this dream, the first BMW Art Car was born. Sculptor Alexander Calder was awarded the inaugural commission, transforming a BMW 3.0 CSL into a kinetic canvas of bold colours and flowing shapes. When Calder’s car roared onto the track at Le Mans, it wasn’t just a race entry – art had left the gallery and was hurtling across the track at over 290 kilometres an hour.
That moment established a precedent. What started as an act of passion became one of the most enduring collaborations between art, design and technical skill. The BMW Art Cars are not concept cars or design tests; they are artworks that move, perform, and last. Each one reflects its era and its creator.
Over the decades, the list of contributors reads like a roll call of art history: Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Olafur Eliasson, Cao Fei and, most recently, Julie Mehretu. Each artist was given complete creative freedom, a remarkable sign of BMW’s trust. They weren’t told what to paint, how to paint, or even what message to convey. Instead, they were invited to respond to the car itself, to see it not as a product of industry but as a sculptural object of movement and power destined to reach record-breaking speeds.
Lichtenstein’s 1977 BMW 320i charted the 24-hour cycle of racing at Le Mans; from sunrise to sunset. Warhol’s M1, painted years later, became a blur of colour, created in just 28 minutes. His brushstrokes capture the speed of the car, each mark carrying the energy of motion, whereas Frank Stella’s 1976 CSL is cloaked in a meticulous grid, a nod to the precision of mechanical engineering and a lens into the car’s blueprint, revealing an appreciation for its inner beauty. But the project was never confined to Europe or America. In 1989, Australian artists joined the lineage: Michael Nelson Jagamara and Ken Done. Both seized the opportunity to share practices deeply rooted in Australia, each translating their connection to land and culture through the language of contemporary art.
Image credit: Michael Nelson Jagamara painting BMW Art Car #7: BMW Art Car #7 by Michael Nelson Jagamara Photo: Enes Kucevic. © BMW AG 2025
Jagamara, a senior artist of the Papunya Tula movement, transformed his M3 with visions of the Dreamtime, a map of Country laid upon steel. As the first created by a man of colour, his work expanded the project’s sense of possibility and affirmed that First Nations art is an active and evolving contemporary force. His project also nodded to the integral role cars play in the outback, as a vital means of transport.
Done’s M3 speaks of his own relationship to Country, adorned with abstracted depictions of parrots and parrotfish in vibrant blues and tropical pinks – a riot of colour and movement. He explained, “Both are beautiful and move at fantastic speed. I wanted my Art Car to convey the same impression.” The work is unapologetically joyful, a distinctly Australian contribution that balanced exuberance with technical precision. Ken Done was reunited with his car recently, visiting the BMW Museum in Munich, where he sat in his car for the first time.
That’s the remarkable power of the BMW Art Cars; they don’t just celebrate art; they enshrine artists. To be chosen is a career-defining moment. There are countless artists collected by major institutions worldwide, but only 20 have been trusted to paint a BMW. It’s a recognition that transcends gallery walls, a commission that transforms an artist’s work into something that moves through space, light and time.
The honour of contributing to the BMW Art Car legacy is not taken lightly by the artists, each of whom has made thoughtful, deliberate choices within the project’s parameters. Particular attention is paid to the kinetic nature of the cars; they are designed to be experienced in motion. John Baldessari, for instance, placed a red dot on the roof so he could spot the car from above during the race, while Jeff Koons’s dynamic, vibrant design creates the illusion of the vehicle moving at light speed and, although this may not have been his intention, it evokes a scene from a video game.
Image credit: BMW Art Car Collection in front of BMW Headquarters, Munich, 2025 Photo: Enes Kucevic. © BMW AG 2025
As the BMW Art Car Collection celebrates its 50th anniversary, it embarks on a world tour, stopping in Vienna, Hong Kong, Johannesburg and Munich. Each city offers a different context, a different conversation. For some, the Art Cars are icons of modern design; for others, they are symbols of collaboration and trust, proof of what happens when creativity is supported without restraint.
Since 1975, BMW has supported more than 100 global art initiatives, yet none have quite the same resonance. The Art Cars are singular. Thomas Girst, Head of BMW Group Cultural Engagement, has described the collection as ‘priceless’, not for the materials or engineering, but for their cultural and artistic significance. Each car is a living document of creative freedom.
Fifty years on, they remain enduring symbols of what happens when trust meets creativity, when design meets expression, and when art takes the wheel. More than reflections of the artists who created them, they mirror us, our histories, our cultures, and our enduring fascination with speed, beauty and imagination.
Image credit: BMW Art Car #3 by Roy Lichtenstein at Le Mans, France, 1977. © BMW AG 2025
As part of the BMW Art Cars world tour, the works by Michael Nelson Jagamara, Ken Done, and Sandro Chia can be experienced at the BMW Museum in Munich until January 1, 2026
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