Having celebrated 100 years since its inception in 2016, BMW made sure enthusiasts had plenty of things to talk about over the course of the entire year. The special event was celebrated around the world, with various local branches putting their best foot forward to pay their respects in all sorts of ways. One of the more unconventional approaches out there was the one pursued by BMW Romania.
The local BMW office decided they will celebrate iconic moments from the brand’s 100 years of history with 101 paintings showcasing memorable snapshots of Bimmers doing what they do best. The artist behind this whole project isn’t your run of the mill painter though, but rather a more unconventional man with an unquenchable thirst for coffee.
Adrian Mitu is a Romanian artist using a special technique that combines watercolors with coffee. Yes, you read that right: coffee. According to the man himself, this combo allows him to play with his creations, the warmth brought on by the coffee infused in his art contrasting with the otherwise colder hue of aquarelle colors. This is also how the name of the exhibit came to life: Blue Coffee.
All the paintings were completed late last year, inside a big shopping center in Bucharest Romania over a period of 30 days, with Adrian painting them live, surrounded by curious shoppers. They tell a story about how BMW was founded and how its Motorsport division came to life, through the effort and passion of special people such as Paul Rosche, Alexander von Falkenhausen or Jochen Neerpasch. As a matter of fact, one of the paintings of Paul Rosche was done just hours before his passing back in 2016.
If you’re thinking Europe and Romania are way too far away for you to travel so that you can admire Adrian’s work – which I can personally guarantee, is breathtaking – you might be relieved to learn that you don’t have to do that. The exhibition is coming to the US and it will be available for the public during BMW CCA’s Heroes of Bavaria: 75 Years of BMW Motorsport event. The doors will open starting tomorrow but unless you bought a ticket ahead of time you might want to wait until Monday to get in.
The event will also host plenty of rare racers too, from a 1937 BMW 328 that won the Zandvoort Grand Prix in 1939 to a BMW 3.0 CSL Group 5 or a PTG E46 M3 GT. The admission is $20 for adults and $10 for children and all proceeds go to the BMW CCA Foundation. Therefore, if you happen to live or be passing by Spartanburg, South Carolina by the end of August, you might want to pull over and check things out.
