Published 24/05/2016
BMW Italia and Garage Italia Customs have created a special Edition model to celebrate the 50 years of BMW history in Italy. It does so with a pattern inspired by the oil painting Street Light by futurist Giacomo Balla, licensed from Bridgeman Images.
"The BMW i8 Futurism Edition," said Sergio Solero, President and CEO of BMW Italia, "represents the pairing of a sports car of the future with Italian creativity and art. For this occasion, we have devised a project with an important partner like Garage Italia Customs, one of the best specialists in car customization."
The car design was unveiled by Sergio Solero and Lapo Elkann, the owner of Garage Italia Customs, on the morning of 16 May 2016 in Milan in the central BMW City Sales Outlet, to coincide with the 2016 Mille Miglia race.
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A trusted resource for art licensing We spoke with Carlo Borromeo, Head of Design at Garage Italia Customs to tell us why Bridgeman was used as a resource. "In the jungle of the web it is very hard to find high quality material that will allow us to fully express our ideas and also be certain of respecting authors and intellectual property. Bridgeman is quickly becoming a fundamental tool in that regard, allowing Garage Italia to produce top quality work while dealing with a comprehensive yet incredibly human service."
Futurism art movement: a need for speed
Futurism was an art movement launched by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti in 1909 celebrating the modern world of industry and technology.
'We declare … a new beauty, the beauty of speed. A racing motor car … is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace’ (the ancient Greek sculpture in the Louvre museum in Paris).
Balla's original painting hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York and represents a street lamp powered by electricity under moonlight. The small group of radical futurist artists also included Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini.
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