Look at me, using our beloved “Holy Grail” appellation right here in a Cold Start! And I think I’m using it pretty accurately here, because what I want to tell you about is about as close as I can think of to an automotive Holy Grail: something impossibly rare, and perhaps irretrievably lost. I’m talking about the only art car known to have been painted by Pablo Picasso.
Yes, that’s right! An art car, not unlike the famous art cars painted by artists like Alexander Calder and Andy Warhol, but this one was a 1955 Citroën DS, enhanced with painting by Picasso, creating a work that Picasso called Las Guirnaldas de la Paz, or, the Garlands of Peace.
Picasso was, of course, needs no introduction, as I’m pretty sure you’re all familiar with the artist that gave the world such works as Guernica and Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, the work that started the Cubist movement.
We all know Picasso; what we know less about is the ’55 Citroën that he painted. The car was borrowed by Mexican journalist Manuel Mejido from a friend, and the journalist took advantage of Picasso’s gratitude to Mexico for taking Spanish refugees in 1939 to secure a rare interview with the artist.
Quite broke, Mejido made a deal with a pair of documentarians from Colombia and a French woman to join him on the trip in exchange for covering the expenses. As the story goes, Picasso spoke with the group for a while, then left mysteriously, returning a while later and demanding everyone to leave.
As they approached the borrowed Citroën, they saw that Picasso had painted the car with figures, trees, and flowers, in Picasso’s signature rapid, gestural style. Picasso, delighted, told them the work on the car was of garlands of peace, which is where the work took its name.
I can barely make out the painted elements on the car in this picture; I want to see more!
The value of the car was not lost on Mejido, who drove it immediately to an art gallery, where he sold it for $6,000 (nearly $70,000 today), and gave the friend who loaned him the car a grand, which I suppose roughly covered the cost of the car? I think he probably should have paid the dude more; I mean, he didn’t even ask!
It seems that the picture above is the only known photograph of the DS; here’s a picture of Picasso with another French car, a Renault Dauphine he owned:
That doesn’t really have anything to do with this story, but I liked the picture. Wire wheels?
Anyway, the fate of the Picasso-painted Citroën is not known. It may be in the hands of a private collector, but, if so, they seem to be keeping the car a secret.
I suspect it still exists and hasn’t been scrapped or anything like that; its value was understood at the time, and it feels unlikely anyone would have lost track of the car. So where is it? I’d love to get a better look at the thing; I have no idea what its value could be now, but I suspect it could be the most valuable Citroën DS in existence.
You know, one of my favorite Picasso works happens to be one made with vehicular parts; it’s just called Bull’s Head, and is an assemblage of a bicycle seat and handlebars:
Damn, that’s clever.
And since we’re talking about Picasso, may as well remind you about how he was never called an asshole:
Where is this DS? I’m so curious now. Has it been in the same hands since it was sold to that art gallery? Has it clandestinely changed hands multiple times? I have no idea. I do hope one day it’ll be found, and available for the world to see and enjoy.
It’s also worth noting that much later, in 1998, Picasso’s family signed a sweet deal with Citroën to use Picasso’s name on cars, like the Xsara Picasso:
I wonder what old Pablo would have thought about that?
If the Goddess of Peace isn’t on there somewhere, I would be disappointed.