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By
ALISTAIR KENNEDY
18 June 2007
Australia has just received a visit from some of the world’s
most distinctive and most valuable cars.
Four cars from BMW’s 15-car Art Car collection
were recently on display at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art.
The cars have previously been shown at museums such as the Louvre
in Paris, London’s Royal Academy, the Palazzo Grassi in Venice
and the New York Guggenheim Museum.
The Art Car had its origins in the 1975 Le Mans
24-hour race when art auctioneer and racing car driver Hervé
Poulain drove a BMW 3.0 CSL specially painted by artist Alexander
Calder. The idea caught on, and another 14 noted artists have
transferred their thoughts from canvas to the metal of various BMW
race and road cars.
The most famous of the artists and their cars are
pop art legends, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, whose BMW 320i
Group 5 and M1 Group 4 cars were first shown in 1977 and 1979
respectively. Two Australian artists, the iconic Ken Done with an
M3 Group A and Michael Jagamara Nelson (635 CSi), have also made
contributions, both being shown at the Art Cars’ previous visit
to Australia in 1989.
The Lichtenstein, Warhol and Done cars were joined
by a 1976 3.0 CSL painted by American artist Frank Stella for the
Australian showing which, unfortunately for most local
enthusiasts, was limited to just five days.
Another four BMW Art Cars are currently touring
northern Asia and Africa with the complete collection due to be
re-united for a tour of the USA and Europe. They will shortly be
joined by a 16th Art Car, the first addition since 1999, which has
been commissioned from an as yet unnamed American artist.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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