Andy Warhol - Cars

Andy Warhol - CarsIn 1986, on the 100th birthday of the automobile, the DaimlerChrysler enterprise commissioned the pop art icon Andy Warhol to do a series of 80 car pictures which were to document the history of the automobile from 1886 to the present. Using 20 selected Mercedes models including the Daimler motor coach and the Benz patent motor wagon 35 pictures and 12 large format paintings were executed in 1986 87, becoming the last series produced by the artist.

In 1986, on the 100th birthday of the automobile, the DaimlerChrysler enterprise commissioned the pop art icon Andy Warhol to do a series of 80 car pictures which were to document the history of the automobile from 1886 to the present. Using 20 selected Mercedes models - including the Daimler motor coach and the Benz patent motor wagon - 35 pictures and 12 large-format paintings were executed in 1986/87, becoming the last series produced by the artist. The large-format picture book at hand presents the works in total and, with other commissioned works, further explores the many-faceted subject of "Business Art". The works include a co- operation between Robert Longo and DaimlerChrysler that yielded a series of black-and-white portraits of Mercedes Benz models. With her signature watercolors of persons and products from the enterprise, Simone Westerwinter created a radically new form of "portrait". Mathis Neidhart is working at a dialectic approach of conveying the brand-name philosophy of DaimlerChrysler with art- specific questions. An essay about the relationship between the "business artists" Andy Warhol and Truman Capote as well as interviews with artists included in the collection such as John M Armleder, Peter Halley, Robert Longo and Sarah Morris serve to expand on the subject matter of the book. Andy Warhol (Pittsburgh 1928-1987 New York) studied picture design at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh. During his studies, he held a job as a window decorator. In 1949, he moved to New York and worked as a graphic artist in advertising. World tour in 1956. From 1960, freelance artist. In 1963, his first film Sleep was released. In 1968, assassination attempt on Warhol. In 1969, publication of the magazine Interview. (German edition available, ISBN 3-7757-1263-1)