A loving car

This Mercedes Benz 190 called 'Loving Car' is the most colorful car in the Louwman Museum. In 1986 Mercedes celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Benz Patent Motor Car from 1886. To mark this centenary, Mercedes Benz Netherlands commissioned Karel Appel to paint a brand new, factory fresh Mercedes 190 (Type W201) in a completely artistic way. The only thing he deliberately left unpainted was the iconic Mercedes star on the hood. The 'Loving Car' was a worldwide sensation at the time. Before the car took its final place in the Louwman Museum, it went on a full show tour around the world. Everywhere the multicolored Mercedes appeared, it drew crowds of art and car enthusiasts. For Appel the car was not a status symbol, but a cheerful, moving creature that was meant to spread love and color. Karel Appel also liked to take his art outside the walls of traditional museums. He painted on walls, created gigantic sculptures, and in 1986 he saw the Mercedes Benz 190 as the ultimate opportunity. Karel Appel became world famous as one of the founders of the revolutionary international art movement CoBrA. Founded in 1948 by artists from Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam. In contrast to the art that hangs in the gallery, Karel Appels style is anything but perfectionist and by the rules. Appel did not look for his inspiration in classical art history, but in childrens drawings and folk art. He admired the way children painted in a very pure, spontaneous way and without fear of making mistakes.