Andy Warhol Car Art Hits the Petersen Museum July 23rd

Cars are just artwork on four wheels so it isn’t a stretch to say car fans are art lovers too. If you dig both, you’re in luck as Andy Warhol’s noted car art collection will be at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California. An exhibit titled Andy Warhol: Cars – Works from the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection starts, July 23 and will showcase five of the eight Mercedes ultimately depicted in Warhol’s final commission.

According to the Petersen Museum, “Widely known as the initiator and proponent of the Pop art movement of the 1960s, Warhol was famous for his iconography of everyday life items like Campbell’s Soup cans, Coca-Cola bottles, and Brillo boxes, in addition to his colorful renderings of a multitude of famous figures and celebrities. His “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” portrait of Marilyn Monroe recently sold for a record-breaking $195 million).

Mercedes-Benz originally commissioned the “Cars” series in 1986 to help celebrate its 100th anniversary after seeing Warhol’s silkscreen prints of its 300 SL Coupe. Warhol planned to create 80 pieces of art using 20 different Mercedes models spanning the German automaker’s 100-year history. But only 49 works, 36 screen prints on canvas and 13 drawings, were completed before Warhol’s unexpected passing in 1987 after routine surgery leaving the project unfinished.”

Also included in the exhibit is the 1954 W 196, a Formula One car on loan from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, forty original works from the “Cars” series, all on loan from the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection, and the 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, on loan from the Revolver Gallery, that Warhol owned without ever obtaining a driver’s license. He rode as a passenger and relied on his friends to drive the vehicle; famous chauffeurs include Mick Jagger, Imelda Marcos, and Liza Minnelli.

For more information and tickets go here.

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Dave Cruikshank

Dave Cruikshank is a lifelong car enthusiast and an editor at Power Automedia. He digs all flavors of automobiles, from classic cars to modern EVs. Dave loves music, design, tech, current events, and fitness.
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