819 Renaults go into this Renault 4
In 1967, the magazine Réalités organised an exceptional fundraising event for the French Foundation for Medical Research. It asked five artists each to personalise a car from five leading manufacturers, which were then sold in aid of the Foundation. These were: a Daf for Carlos Cruz-Diez, a Simca 1000 for Agam (Yaacov Gibstein), an Opel Kadett for Victor Vasarely, a Matra 530 for Sonia Delaunay and a Renault 4 for Arman (Armand Fernandez). The last car in that line up is featured here.
Arman (1928-2005), best known for his ‘accumulations’ and destruction / recomposition of objects, chose to cover the Renault 4 with drawings of… a Renault 4.This is how he framed the piece: "The 819 Renaults lined up on the body symbolise the theme of accumulation. Nowadays, man no longer shapes objects, he distils them. They become a part of him, they are born, decay and die in a cycle imitating our own. I didn't want to transform my car into a museum exhibit. It remains usable in all weathers. The transfers were adapted accordingly, glazed and baked in the oven. The bodywork was designed to last like this for ten years."
It has greatly exceeded this, the artist's work having survived unscathed for more than 50 years. Admittedly, the car has hardly been driven, with just 875 km from new, and is therefore in immaculate condition.
In a way, this Renault 4 was one of the very first ‘Art Cars’, a genre which Hervé Poulain would make famous with the works of art produced for the cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, starting with Calder's BMW in 1975 and including Arman's own Venturi 600 LM (La Reptuile) in 1994.
Artcurial will be offering the 1967 Renault 4 for Arman at their upcoming André Trigano Collection sale held on the 2nd May. For more information on this and other vehicles at the sale, click on the link below. Photos © Peter Singhof / Artcurial