The 6th BMW Art Car

Robert Rauschenberg transformed this BMW 635CSi into a collage of art history, photography, and everyday culture. Rauschenberg was the first to use other artists’ works on his car, using photographic techniques to edit these images and project them onto the vehicle. For example, on the left-hand side of the car, we see Bronzino's “Portrait of a Young Man”, and on the right, a painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Even the hubcaps make reference to art history, featuring photographs of antique plates. All these elements are joined by Rauschenberg's own photographs of trees and swamp grasses – a subtle comment on the environmental challenges associated with the motor car. But other than this, the sporty six-cylinder saloon looks like any other production car, just as could be seen in any car park back in 1986 – a car straight off the production line, a part of everyday culture. And precisely this fact makes this Art Car a perfect embodiment of Rauschenberg's lifelong aspiration to break down the boundaries between art and everyday life.

Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008) was one of the artists who paved the way for American Pop Art. He was born in Port Arthur, Texas, studied art in Kansas City and Paris, and started out designing scenery and costumes for theatres all over the world. Later, he experimented with photographic designs, painted in the style of Abstract Expressionists, and finally discovered his own personal style in “Combines” – a collage technique integrating real objects and photographs from media reports into an abstract painting. Many artists have been and continue to be inspired by his radical visual language.

Robert Rauschenberg's Art Car was intended solely as an exhibition piece and has never been driven on the road or in a race.