Jeff Koons has customized 99 BMWs

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of BMW's relationship with the art world, the German automaker has enlisted Jeff Koons to create a custom edition of the M850ixDrive Gran Coupe, which will make its world premiere at Frieze Los Angeles in February and at Rockefeller Plaza in New York April 1-4, and then be auctioned off at nearby Christie's. The MW Series 8 Gran Coupe, offered in an edition of 99 at $350,000 each, has been hand-painted in characteristic pop-art motifs: puffs, stars and vignettes in shades of blue and gray, contrasting with the saturated red-seated interior, which evokes the Warhol and Lichtenstein tradition from which Koons has often drawn inspiration. On the side, the ironic writing "pop" flashes, complete with exclamation mark, the word he often likes to pronounce in interviews. 

BMW, which already in 2010 had created the unique edition of the BMW M3 GT2 Art Car in collaboration with the artist, with which he raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit, described Koons' latest creation as "one of the most extensive custom factory production processes". A masterstroke for the brand, which has been committed for years to supporting contemporary art through a communication strategy that began half a century ago. 

The relationship between BMW and contemporary art has been consolidated over time, starting in 1971, with the commission of the painting "Yellow Blue and Red" to the German artist Gerhard Richter for the headquarters in Munich, and continuing in 1975 when the French driver Hervé Poulain, also founder of the auction house Artcurial, declared to the founder of BMW Motorsport Jochen Neerpasch that he would race at Le Mans in a BMW, but only on condition that it was painted by an artist like Alexander Calder. It was the beginning of BMW Art Car, a project that has involved over the years artists such as Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and that today is renewed with one of the most representative and iconic characters of our time, Jeff Koons.