Cars
Great artists on the track. The victory goes to BMW in any case
BMW broke into the art world in the late 1970s, linking its extreme competition models to the names of key artists of the time. This resulted in five art cars, each unique and a true representation of the artist's distinctive style.
Brands find countless ways of earning renown, admiration, respect and love. Few, however, have the kind of clear-sightedness and vision necessary to occupy a sphere with such authoritativeness that their competitors are inevitably sidelined.
This is precisely what BMW managed to do in the late 1970s, when it broke into the art world, proving to be a protagonist from the outset. A protagonist thanks to its idea of linking its most extreme competition models to the names of key artists of the time — true artists with a capital A, the kind that shape the history of taste and customs. We have selected five of these cars in order to analyze their origins. Because true artists, of course, don’t accept briefs: if they agree to collaborate, they will only do so if they feel free to create something that strikes them as right and fitting.
Alexander Calder is as renowned for his monumental iron sculptures as for his light and innovative hanging “mobiles” that move in the wind. For the 1975 CSL, he chose the only element that his distinctive works share: the use of pure, strong colors, mainly red, yellow and blue. The result is definitely “him”.
