BMW Art Car Collection: 50 Years of Visionary Automotive Art

16 Mar

For the past 50 years, the BMW Art Car series has given artists captivated by automobiles the ideal platform to merge art and design, technology and innovation, motorsport and engineering. The 20 BMW Art Cars collection demonstrates the essence of global cultural engagement, featuring over one hundred initiatives spanning contemporary art, music, film, and design. These “rolling sculptures” – from Alexander Calder’s first-ever Art Car to Julie Mehretu’s newest contribution – provide a snapshot of art history across five decades, representing minimalism, pop art, magical realism, abstraction, conceptual art, and digital art.

International juries of museum directors select the artists, who collaborate closely with the BMW Group’s engineering and design teams to develop their concepts. Everyone involved draws inspiration from this creative freedom. To mark the 50th anniversary, the BMW Art Car World Tour presents an exhibition programme that spans five continents and features numerous accompanying events.

“The BMW Art Car Collection celebrates 50 years of artistic freedom and visionary design. The 20 vehicles have become international icons, telling stories of society, technology, and performance. Our commitment to art and culture is long-term. We continue to expand the collection and uniquely unite art with automotive culture,” says Ilka Horstmeier, Board Member for Human Resources and Real Estate at BMW Group.

The BMW Art Car World Tour begins in Europe and Asia. On 20–21 March, the BMW Art Cars created by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, David Hockney, and Jeff Koons will be on display at the Museum of Applied Arts and the SPARK Art Fair in Vienna for the BMW Group Niederlassung Wien event “(R)Evolution of Art”. The most recent addition – the 20th BMW Art Car, the BMW M Hybrid V8 by renowned American painter Julie Mehretu – will travel through Asia, beginning with an appearance at Art Basel in Hong Kong on 28–30 March.

Mehretu is expanding her Art Car project far beyond the vehicle by hosting workshops for young film and media artists across five African countries in 2025, in partnership with film producer Mehret Mandefro and the BMW Group. The resulting work from the African Film and Media Arts Collective (AFMAC) will be unveiled in 2026 alongside Mehretu’s Art Car in an exhibition at the Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, curated by its Executive Director, Koyo Kouoh, who is the designated curator of the Venice Biennale 2026.

Major museums and classic automobile platforms also celebrate the milestone anniversary of the BMW Art Cars. Sandro Chia’s 13th Art Car will appear at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este at Lake Como in May. In July and August, the Louwman Museum in The Hague will showcase eight BMW Art Cars in a special exhibition.

When not travelling the globe, the BMW Museum in Munich houses the BMW Art Cars. To honour both 50 years of the BMW Art Cars and the 50th anniversary of the BMW 3 Series in 2025, the museum will unveil a special exhibition on 16 June. It will feature a historical overview of all BMW 3 Series models, plus the BMW M3 Art Cars by Sandro Chia, Michael Jagamara Nelson, and Ken Done.

In addition to the exhibition programme, BMW is releasing new art and lifestyle products to celebrate the anniversary. A 1:18-scale miniature of Julie Mehretu’s 20th Art Car is now available at BMW Lifestyle Shops, with a 1:43 version scheduled for release later this year. BMW has also partnered with publisher Hatje Cantz to present the third edition of the “BMW Art Cars” catalogue, featuring interviews with the collection’s founders and essays on each of the 20 Art Cars. Designed by Julie Mehretu, the new edition’s cover highlights art's historical significance and diversity in these works. Following the popular Alexander Calder and Roy Lichtenstein fashion collections, BMW will soon announce its third collaboration with Puma, inspired by the BMW Art Cars.

On 14 June 1975, American sculptor Alexander Calder’s BMW 3.0 CSL took to the track at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Although initially a one-off collaboration between Calder and BMW, the project drew such enthusiastic crowds and delighted children that BMW decided it must continue. The concept was spearheaded by French auctioneer and racing driver Hervé Poulain, who found a visionary partner in Jochen Neerpasch, founder and Head of BMW Motorsport. Together, they entered a BMW designed by an artist in the legendary endurance race. Although Calder’s first BMW Art Car retired after seven hours, it won the crowd's hearts and laid the foundation for the collection.

In partnership with legendary New York gallerist Leo Castelli, more BMW Art Cars by American artists Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, and Andy Warhol followed—all raced by Hervé Poulain and the BMW team at Le Mans. From 1982 to 1992, the BMW Art Car Collection expanded its global reach, commissioning artists to transform standard production models: Ernst Fuchs, Robert Rauschenberg, Michael Jagamara Nelson, Ken Done, Matazo Kayama, César Manrique, A. R. Penck, Esther Mahlangu, Sandro Chia, and David Hockney. In 1999, American conceptual artist Jenny Holzer created a BMW V12 LMR prototype for BMW’s return to motorsport. Eight years later, Olafur Eliasson reimagined a record-breaking hydrogen race car in “Your mobile expectations: BMW H₂R Project.” Since then, Jeff Koons, John Baldessari, Cao Fei, and Julie Mehretu have added high-performance race cars to the collection. Artists worldwide, since the invention of the automobile nearly 140 years ago, have engaged with cars both critically and enthusiastically—and for 50 years, the BMW Art Car series has played a key role in this ongoing dialogue.

Selected BMW Art Car World Tour Dates

Until 16 April 2025: Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa
BMW Art Car #12 Esther Mahlangu
20–21 March 2025: SPARK Art Fair and MAK Museum Vienna, Austria
Event “(R)Evolution of Art” by BMW Niederlassung Wien
BMW Art Cars #3 Roy Lichtenstein, #4 Andy Warhol, #6 Robert Rauschenberg, #14 David Hockney, #16 Jeff Koons
28–30 March 2025: Art Basel in Hong Kong
BMW Art Car #20 Julie Mehretu
23 April–2 May 2025: Shanghai Auto Show, China
BMW Art Car #20 Julie Mehretu
18–20 April 2025: Art Dubai, United Arab Emirates
BMW Art Car # TBA
May 2025: 50 Years of BMW Switzerland, Zurich, Switzerland
BMW Art Cars #5 Ernst Fuchs, #8 Ken Done, #11 A. R. Penck, #14 David Hockney, #15 Jenny Holzer, #19 John Baldessari
9–11 May 2025: Taipei Dangdai, Taiwan
BMW Art Car # TBA
27 May–1 June 2025: Bratislava, Slovakia
BMW Art Cars #2 Frank Stella, #7 Michael Jagamara Nelson, #9 Matazo Kayama
15–18 May 2025: Market Art Fair, Stockholm, Sweden
BMW Art Cars #1 Alexander Calder, #3 Roy Lichtenstein, #4 Andy Warhol, #17 Jeff Koons
23–25 May 2025: Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, Lake Como, Italy
BMW Art Car #13 Sandro Chia
16 June 2025–1 January 2026: BMW Museum, Munich
BMW Art Cars #7 Michael Jagamara Nelson, #8 Ken Done, #13 Sandro Chia
16 June 2025–31 August 2025: BMW Welt, Munich
BMW Art Cars #15 Jenny Holzer, #20 Julie Mehretu
27–29 June 2025: The Aurora, Båstad, Sweden
BMW Art Cars #1 Alexander Calder, #3 Roy Lichtenstein, #4 Andy Warhol, #17 Jeff Koons
3 July–31 August 2025: Louwman Museum, The Hague, Netherlands
BMW Art Cars #1 Alexander Calder, #2 Frank Stella, #3 Roy Lichtenstein, #4 Andy Warhol, #10 César Manrique, #12 Esther Mahlangu, #14 David Hockney, #17 Jeff Koons
24–28 September 2025: Contemporary Istanbul, Turkey
BMW Art Cars #1 Alexander Calder, #20 Julie Mehretu

The Art Car World Tour will continue evolving through most of 2026. Further stops and venues are planned, including Australia, Belgium (Brussels, Zoute), China (Macau), Germany (Berlin, Munich, Düsseldorf), Kazakhstan, Latin America, Morocco (Marrakech), South Africa, Spain, Switzerland (Basel), and the USA.

BMW Art Car Artists and Models