FINE ART ON WHEELS - ARTISTS

Since 1975, world-renowned artists such as Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and David Hockney have transformed cars into moving works of art. What began with a painted race car by Alexander Calder evolved into the iconic BMW Art Car Collection. These unique creations, recognized by museums around the world, reflect the creative vision of their makers and the era in which they were conceived. Discover the stories behind the artists and their masterpieces on wheels.

Alexander Calder

Born in Philadelphia in 1898, Alexander Calder began his career as an engineer, then followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps as a sculptor. He was drawn to art as much as technology, and developed his own style. His constructions were enormous, yet light and floating.

Frank Stella

At the age of 14, Frank Stella, who was born in Malden, Massachusetts in 1936, began studying art at the Phillips Academy in Andover, USA. After studying history at Princeton University in the United States, he set up a studio in New York. This is when the Transitional Paintings and Black Paintings emerged.

Roy Lichtenstein

I wanted the lines I painted to be a representation of the road that showed the car where it had to go, Roy Lichtenstein said of his design for the BMW 320i. The design also shows the landscape through which the car has traveled.

Andy Warhol

The name Andy Warhol is the quintessence of pop art. He was born in 1928 in Pittsburgh, USA, and studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology from 1945 to 1949. He began his artistic career as a commercial artist and was already successful in 1952 with his own exhibition in New York.

César Manrique

Manrique is recognized as a universal talent: architect, sculptor, designer, object artist and painter in one. It took about forty years before his paintings were first shown in public. He made his breakthrough at the Venice Biennale in 1960. The paintings of the ardent ecologist and landscape designer mainly dealt with the theme of geology and volcanism.

Esther Mahlangu

Esther Mahlangu was born in South Africa in 1936 and learned the traditional painting technique of the Ndebele tribe from her mother. The stylistically characteristic and well- known murals with the typical Ndebele pattern are made exclusively by women.

David Hockney

David Hockney was born in England in 1937 and has been one of the most flamboyant and influential protagonists on the international art scene since the early 1960s. He completed his studies at the Royal College of Art in London in 1962 and soon belonged to the elite circles of swinging London.

Jeff Koons

Born in 1955 in York, Pennsylvania, Jeff Koons has consistently pushed the boundaries of contemporary art. He studied at the Maryland Institute of Art and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago before gaining international acclaim for his larger-than-life sculptures, including his iconic balloon animals and reflective stainless steel pieces.

Experience all the stories at the Louwman Museum.

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