The $10 million artwork that might win Le Mans

Ethiopian-born American artist Julie Mehretu is on a roll. In October 2023, one of her paintings sold for $9.3 million with another fetching $10.7 million in November 2023. Though she had been “the most likely to succeed” for three decades, her work has now moved her name into the pantheon of African, womens and indeed all art. In 2024, one of her near priceless artworks might win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

2023 was a stand-out year for Julie Mehretu, even considering a lifetime of high achievement. Mehretu’s large-scale artworks have been forging a reputation for her that has been growing internationally for decades.

The first of her artworks to sell for more than $1.0 million at auction was in 2010, when she was just 40 years-of-age.

2010 was also the year investment bank Goldman Sachs paid her USD $5.0 million to create an artwork fitting for its new USD $2.0 billion headquarters at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan.

Now here’s where perception and reality will collide for most people. Not only did Julie deliver on the project, she is believed to have spent more than $4.0 million on the fabrication and construction alone, with the project running two years and involving 30+ staff. That’s no doubt, a different kind of work ethic and commitment to vision than most people associate with the art world.

2023 was the year that (by then) 52-year-old Julie really hit the big time.

First she was announced as the next BMW Art Car artist, the 20th of an illustrious series that began in 1975.

Considering the names that have gone before Julie in the series, simply being chosen was an honour, but Julie was on a roll.

The sale of two paintings, one for $9.34 million in October 2023 and another for $10.74 million in November 2023, elevated Julie to a new level in the art world and she is now entering unprecedented territory for a woman.

When “Walkers With the Dawn and Morning” (2008) sold for $10,737,500 it became the highest sale of an African artwork in history, at the same time as moving Julie into second place on the list of the most expensive artwork sold at auction by a living woman artist.

Jenny Saville’s “Propped” (1992), which fetched $12.4 million in 2018, is the only artwork by a living female artist that has sold for more, and Metehru’s work is now sitting just outside the top 10 female prices of all time … and she is at the height of her health and powers.

With many more productive years ahead of her, Julie seems almost certain to join Jenny Saville in breaking through the barriers that have depressed the prices of artwork created by females.

Julie’s decision to use her recently created “Everywhen” (2021-23) is the first time we’ve seen an important painting adapted to an automobile. “Everywhen” is currently being exhibited at Palazzo Grassi in Venice, after which it will find a permanent home at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

One of the wonderful aspects of the BMW Art Car programme, is to see the artists behind the work, and the following video perfectly depicts Julie’s adaptation of “Everywhen” (1921-23) to become the skin of a competitive sports prototype racing.

The car was shown publicly for the first time at Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este on the shores of Lake Como last weekend (24-26 May 2024) and it has turned out better than could possibly have been expected.

We’ve included several images of the car from Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in this story, and there are many more in the image gallery.

If you’re interested in following the exploits of the 20th BMW Art Car, practice for the race begins on 12 June and the race finishes 15 June. We’ll update this page closer to the time with details of how you can watch the lead-up and race online.