Walter Helmut Maurer (born March 20, 1942, in Dachau,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) is a German

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

and

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

. Maurer is best known for having painted many of the cars in the BMW Art Car series.

Biography

Early life and beginnings

Walter Maurer was born on 20 March 1942 in Dachau as son of a soldier and a housewife. After attending school, he decided to train as an illustration technician and subsequently studied

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. During his childhood he experienced the last phase of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the later reconstruction of the new

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

. The senseless war and the pain over the early loss of his father were partly the catalyst for Walter Maurer's strong

moral compass A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. A ...

and later extensive artistic commitment advocating peaceful coexistence without

hatred Hatred is an intense negative emotional response towards certain people, things or ideas, usually related to opposition or revulsion toward something. Hatred is often associated with intense feelings of anger, contempt, and disgust. Hatred is s ...

exclusion Exclusion may refer to: Legal or regulatory * Exclusion zone, a geographic area in which some sanctioning authority prohibits specific activities * Exclusion Crisis and Exclusion Bill, a 17th-century attempt to ensure a Protestant succession in En ...

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

Life and career

During his studies in Munich, Walter Maurer launched his own business as a

and painter at the beginning of the 1960s. After Maurer mainly did

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

and design paintwork for medium-sized and large transport companies and breweries and also designed

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...

s during this time, his clientele expanded and he started to attract greater attention. At the beginning of the 1970s, Walter Maurer also caught the interest of the German car brand BMW, which invited him to collaborate as a co-artist on

BMW Art Car The BMW Art Car Project was introduced by the French racecar driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain, who wanted to invite an artist to create a canvas on an automobile. In 1975, Poulain commissioned American artist and friend Alexander Calder to pain ...

projects and later as a designer. Besides his professional activities as a designer and artist, Walter Maurer also lectured on

colour theory In the visual arts, color theory is the body of practical guidance for color mixing and the visual effects of a specific color combination. Color terminology based on the color wheel and its geometry separates colors into primary color, seconda ...

at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich from 1991 to 2001. From 1984 to 2002, Walter Maurer was also academic director at the ''Glasurit School of Design'' of the BASF Group. From the 1980s until the late 1990s, he also gained notoriety outside artistic circles in the

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

scene, when he successfully competed with his BMW M1 ProCar (

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

) at international races.

Artistic work

Walter Maurer's artistic work is extensive and closely linked to the automotive and

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

world as well as committed to

ethical issues Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

and philosophically complex questions about humanity and contemporary issues.

BMW Art Cars

In the early 1970s, on the initiative of

Hervé Poulain Hervé Poulain (born 16 December 1940) is a retired French racing driver, author, and auctioneer. He is best known today as the instigator of the BMW Art Car project. Poulain's idea was to invite contemporary artists to use new automobiles, whi ...

, Walter Maurer began collaborating with various international artists, which later led to the legendary BMW Art Cars. As co-artist, Walter Maurer played a major role in the creation of the BMW Art Cars by

Alexander Calder Alexander Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and his ...

(1975),

Frank Stella Frank Philip Stella (born May 12, 1936) is an American painter, sculptor and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. Stella lives and works in New York City. Biography Frank Stella was born in M ...

(1976),

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein (; October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997) was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. Hi ...

(1977),

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

(1979), Ernst Fuchs (1982) and

César Manrique César Manrique Cabrera ( or ) (24 April 1919 – 25 September 1992) was a Spanish artist, sculptor, architect and nature activist from Lanzarote. Early life Manrique was born in Arrecife, Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands. His father G ...

(1990). He also contributed to various other BMW Art Car projects and, for example, developed and applied a special

coat A coat typically is an outer garment for the upper body as worn by either gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a ...

for

Cao Fei Cao Fei ( zh, 曹斐; born 1978) is a Chinese multimedia artist born in Guangzhou, China, Guangzhou. Her work, which includes video, performance, and digital media, examines the daily life of Chinese citizens born after the Cultural Revolution. Her ...

's 3D Art Car, which made it possible for the light art to be displayed on the vehicle. In 2020, Walter Maurer also created the

Artist's proof An artist's proof is an impression of a print taken in the printmaking process to see the current printing state of a plate while the plate (or stone, or woodblock) is being worked on by the artist. A proof may show a clearly incomplete image, ofte ...

of the Art Car realised with

in 1975. Back in 1975, Alexander Calder and Walter Maurer were already considering the possibility of creating a second Art Car of the same design, which Calder would have liked to keep in his private collection. Due to Calder's untimely death in 1976, however, these plans could not be completed and were no longer pursued. In 2019, the Alexander Calder Foundation, headed by Alexander S. C. Rower, Alexander Calder's

grandson Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

, had the opportunity to acquire an identical model of the BMW 3.0 CSL and restore it with the aim of fulfilling the wish of his grandfather Alexander Calder and adding an Artist's Proof of the first BMW Art Car to the Foundation's collection. The Alexander Calder Foundation counted on the administrative support of BMW AG, which was as committed to the project as all the others involved. A prerequisite for Rower was that the Artist's Proof should also be carried out by Walter Maurer, who had also been responsible for the execution of the design paintwork in 1975 and who, as the last living artist of the 1975 project, could contribute his wealth of experience in the best possible way.

Maurer/Lagerfeld BMW L7 Individual

In 1999, BMW Group came to the wish of having a BMW L7 designed jointly by two renowned artists and submitted the project proposal to

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer. He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...

and Walter Maurer. Maurer and Lagerfeld agreed and then set to work together, the result of which was presented in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 2000. Walter Maurer was responsible for the exterior design of the car, while Karl Lagerfeld designed the interior. The interior is dominated by brown

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...

and burl wood in the style of the early 2000s. On the outside, Walter Maurer's design is characterised by a two-tone variant that combines the colours orange and brown in a soft gradient.

Come Together

With his art series called ''Come Together'', Walter Maurer sends a statement against

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

injustice Injustice is a quality relating to unfairness or undeserved outcomes. The term may be applied in reference to a particular event or situation, or to a larger status quo. In Western philosophy and jurisprudence, injustice is very commonly—but n ...

and

aggression Aggression is overt or covert, often harmful, social interaction with the intention of inflicting damage or other harm upon another individual; although it can be channeled into creative and practical outlets for some. It may occur either reacti ...

and calls for

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

ful coexistence and

collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

. His artworks in the Come Together series include small, medium and large-scale

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

s as well as automotive

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

s. The paintings and sculptures are regularly exhibited worldwide and are also used by

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

foundations Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

and public authorities to strengthen their

ethical Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

image An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

. The

German Air Force The German Air Force (german: Luftwaffe, lit=air weapon or air arm, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ''Bundeswehr'') was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War a ...

commissioned Walter Maurer threefold to paint three

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

, two Bell UH-1D and a

Transall C-160 The Transall C-160 is a military transport aircraft, produced as a joint venture between France and Germany. "Transall" is an abbreviation of the manufacturing consortium Transporter Allianz, comprising the companies of Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Bl ...

, with designs from the Come Together series under the theme "For Peace" in order to highlight the importance of the

German Armed Forces The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

as an army of

peacekeeping Peacekeeping comprises activities intended to create conditions that favour lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed warfare. Within the United N ...

. The German miniature model manufacturer

Herpa Herpa Miniaturmodelle GMBH (or simply Herpa, an acronym for "Hergenröther und Patente”, the original name of the firm), is a German manufacturing company that produces die-cast scale model aircraft (under the "Herpa Wings" trademark) and plasti ...

also produced a 1:2000 miniature edition of the ''Für den Frieden'' Transall C-160, licensed by Walter Maurer.

Dialog

Similar to the works in the Come Together series, the artworks belonging to the ''Dialog'' series also place a high value on stimulating a discourse on ethical issues. Characteristic of the Dialog series are two abstract faces standing opposite but facing each other. The observer is invited to reflect on the meaning of

human communication Human communication, or anthroposemiotics, is a field of study dedicated to understanding how humans Communication, communicate. Humans ability to communicate with one another would not be possible without an understanding of what we are refere ...

and the importance of understanding people as

human beings Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...

with

idea In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophers have considered ideas to be a fundamental ontological category of being ...

s and

identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...

.Heinzelmann et al. 2022, p. 221.

Notes

References

* Backfisch, K. (1980). ''Glanz und Gloria. Show-Tuning - Schicker statt schneller: Fahrzeugveredelung für das Auge von 5 bis 55 000 Mark.'' Gute Fahrt. Die Zeitschrift für Autofahrer No. 7/1980. * Figueros Sánchez, F. (2022). ''Walter Maurer als Konstante der BMW Art Cars – Zwischen Artist Friendships und Kooperation''. In: . * Flores, E. (2022). ''The Artist’s Message – Die Einbindung von Kunst in die unternehmerische Marketingstrategie im Zeitalter des wertebasierten Marketings.'' In: . * Heinzelmann, J./Ayadi, S./Prinz von Bayern, L. et al. (Editors) (2022). ''Kunst im Dialog. Festschrift für Walter Maurer zum 80. Geburtstag am 20.03.2022.'' ADW Press. . * Herrmann, J. (2022). ''Im Dialog mit militärischer Luftfahrt: Walter Maurer und die Luftwaffe.'' In: . * Linger, H (2016). ''Art des Hauses.''

Auto Motor und Sport ''Auto Motor und Sport'', often stylized as auto motor und sport and abbreviated AMS or AMuS, is a German automobile magazine. It is published fortnightly by Motor Presse Netzwerk's subsidiary Motor Presse Stuttgart, a specialist magazine publi ...

No. 25/2016. * Meyer, F. B. (2019). ''König der Lackierer. Walter Maurer führte sogar Andy Warhol den Pinsel.'' Auto Bild Klassik No. 8/2019. * Miranda González, F. (2022). ''El potencial empresarial del arte de la laca y del diseño de la laca para los fabricantes de automóviles.'' In: . * Müllner, Karl (2022). ''Meinem Freund Walter Maurer.'' In: . * Prinz von Bayern, L. (2022). ''Eine kleine Geschichte des Motorsports und der Gruppe C mit Walter Maurer.'' In: . {{DEFAULTSORT:Maurer, Walter 1942 births Living people Academy of Fine Arts, Munich German artists German racing drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers