Two of the most important BMW Kunstautos will appear together in North America on the 74th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance® for the first time. Andy Warhol’s 1979 BMW M1 Group 4 and Julie Mehretus 2024 BMW M Hybrid V8 will lead the celebration of 50 years of the BMW Art Car program.
“We are absolutely enthusiastic to present two extraordinary BMW -Kunstautos on the 50th anniversary of the BMW Art Car initiative to the Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance,” said Tom Plucinsky, head of the BMW Classic USA. “We have no doubt that the breathtaking views of Pebble Beach will offer a wonderful backdrop for these two works of art by Andy Warhol and Julie Mehretu.”
Origins of the BMW Art Car program
The history of the BMW Art Car began in 1975 when the French racing driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain Alexander Calder commissioned a BMW 3.0 CSL. Calder’s creation was not just a showpiece – it started on Le Mans’ 24 hours and set the tone for every Kunstauto: a mixture of art, design, engineering and motorsport.
Since then, the series has developed into a collection of 20 “Rolling sculptures”, which were created by some of the most influential artists in the world, including Roy Lichtenstein, Jenny Holzer, David Hockney, Jeff Koons, Robert Rausschenberg, Esther Mahlangu, Olafur Eliasson, John Baldessari, Cao, Cao and Jusiegu. In five decades, the cars reflected a wide range of artistic movements – from minimalism and pop art to magical realism, abstraction, concept art and digital art.
The KUNTAUTO program always dealt with more than just decoration. It is a platform for artists to interpret speed, movement and technology in their own language and at the same time celebrate the engineering and racingness of BMW.
Warhol’s BMW M1 Art Car No. 4 (1979)
Warhol’s M1 -Kunstauto came at a time when the artist experimented with abstraction and gesture painting. In just 28 minutes, he applied more than thirteen pounds on a polymer base directly by hand and left visible brush strokes, drops, fingerprints and scratches. “I tried to show speed as a visual picture,” said Warhol. “When an automobile drives really quickly, all lines and colors are transformed into a blurring.”
In 1979 Manfred Winkelhock, Hervé Poulain and Marcel Mignot drove the car in Le Mans and took second place in the classroom – a result that underlined the Kuntauto -Ethos: a work of art could also be a competition machine.
Julie Mehretus BMW M Hybrid V8 Art Car No. 20 (2024)
Julie Mehrretu, a artist born in Ethiopia, based in New York, built her design on the basics of her monumental painting “Everywhen” (2021–2023). She converted the work into layered networks, neon-colored veils and its typical black markings and then used 3D mapping to wrap the pictures around the BMW M Hybrid V8 endurance racing driver. The BMW M Hybrid V8 Kunstauto of the Mehretu in the middle of the Pompidou in Paris made his debut before participating in Le Mans from 2024, whereby its design was used in light films to endure the requirements of a full race day.
BMW celebrates the 3 Series in Monterey for 50 years
BMW is also the 50th anniversary of the 3 -Series in the Monterey Car Week. At the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, the BMW 320i Turbo Group 5 by David Hobbs is exhibited alongside the 2004 PTG M3 GTR and 2011 M3 GT alms. The BMW Car Club of America will present examples from all seven generations of the 3 Series to the legends of the highway.
