The Rauschenberg BMW 635 CSi Art Car - the sixth addition to BMW's collection of 15 Art Cars - is the first in which the artist used photographic methods to transfer images (including images of famous, classical paintings) to the car.

Rauschenberg extended his use of Art Car motifs in his six-part, 1988 "Beamer" series - presented as transparent films on enameled aluminum and using his trademark collage techniques.

The paintings was offered for sale from the artist's private collection.

The Rauschenberg car made its first appearance in 1986 at the BMW Gallery on Park Avenue in New York City, and in 1988 made its European debut in West Berlin.

Since then it has been exhibited across Europe and was a centerpiece of the acclaimed 1997 Rauschenberg retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

Robert Rauschenberg - The Artist

Born in Port Arthur, Texas in 1925, Rauschenberg is recognized as one of the 20th century's most influential and prolific artists. He is credited with bridging the gap between the movements of Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art.

A pioneer of the "Transfer Drawing" process, he experimented in technologically sophisticated combinations of photographs and drawings. As such, his trademark BMW Art Car design includes trompe l'oeil images of Bronzino's 16th century painting "Portrait of Young Man" and Ingres's "Odalisque."

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(Source: Bmw)