Porsche Schweiz AG is donating the entire proceeds of a converted amount of CHF 185,000 to the Swiss non-profit organization Suisseculture Sociale. Porsche and its project partners are thereby supporting Swiss creative artists, whose sector has been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. All of the project partners – including artist Richard Phillips, RM Sotheby’s, and the Weiss Falk gallery in Basel – waived a fee or commission in order to benefit this cause. Porsche Schweiz AG donated the Porsche Taycan 4S entirely to the auction along with further auxiliaries of the lot. The Taycan Artcar is on display at Porsche Center Zug until it will be handed over to the successful Swiss bidder.
One-of-a-kind Porsche Taycan Artcar
The mobile work of art featuring Porsche’s first all-electric sports car was created in Zurich and sold at a worldwide online auction from April 6 to 13. Richard Phillips, an internationally acclaimed American artist, crafted the design for the one-of-a-kind Porsche Taycan Artcar with the help of application specialists from SIGNal Design. The lot also included an exclusive individual tour of Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, the birthplace of the Porsche Taycan, with Porsche AG’s head of the Taycan model line. The Artcar itself was furnished with additional features by Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur: “Queen of the Night” is inscribed on its door sill panels, and projectors illuminate the underfloor with Phillips’s signature when the doors are opened.
“In addition to the donation itself, I am delighted with how this auction has attracted international interest in the important work of Suisseculture Sociale,” said Michael Glinski, CEO of Porsche Schweiz AG. “The proceeds will benefit people in Switzerland who are currently in great need of assistance. I would like to thank everyone who submitted a bid, and congratulate above all the highest bidder.”
Support for creative artists
In the words of Nicole Pfister Fetz, President of Suisseculture Sociale, “The COVID-19 crisis is still with us and culture remains one of the areas most affected. It will probably be a long time before cultural creatives can return to anything like normal conditions. Assistance from the private sector is therefore of great significance. I would like to extend heartfelt thanks to Porsche for its generous support.”
The Suisseculture Sociale organization supports all professional and full-time artists in every artistic field who live in Switzerland or hold Swiss citizenship. Suisseculture Sociale was founded twenty years ago to support creative artists and is independent of public funding. During the pandemic it was tasked by the Swiss Confederation with distributing emergency government aid to the cultural sector. Proceeds from the auction of the Taycan Artcar are intended for hardship cases that have not been covered by these measures.
“At RM Sotheby’s, we were thrilled to support Porsche Schweiz AG in the sale of the Porsche Taycan Artcar. The backing of Suisseculture Sociale is a truly worthwhile endeavor to support the many Swiss artists affected by the pandemic,” said Chief Operating Officer Alain Squindo.
The work of art
The Taycan Artcar represents the second collaborative effort by New York-based artist Richard Phillips and the German sports-car maker. Phillips also designed a Porsche Artcar back in 2019 – together with Jörg Bergmeister, then a Porsche factory driver. The Porsche 911 RSR from Project 1 Motorsport became the first Artcar ever to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which may well be the world’s toughest endurance race.
For the Taycan Artcar, Phillips transferred his large-scale painting entitled Queen of the Night to the body of the Porsche Taycan 4S. Inspired in 2010 by the work of legendary Swiss landscape artist Adolf Dietrich, it measures approximately eight square meters. Its incarnation on wheels is a three-dimensional arrangement of the original elements and details. “The full resplendent color of Queen of the Night culminates on the rear part of the car where the flower’s blossoms completely envelope the bumper and are dramatically illuminated by the Taycan’s signature horizonal light bar,” says Phillips. “The initial idea shaping my Queen of the Night was the Taycan as an instantly recognizable icon of electric mobility and speed.”
The Porsche Taycan was launched in 2019 as the brand’s first all-electric sports car. The Taycan 4S comes with two battery sizes, of which the Performance Battery Plus generates up to 420 kW (571 hp). Last year, the four-door sports sedan with twenty-seven technological novelties was voted the most innovative car on the global automotive market. The Taycan came in first in the World Performance Car and World Luxury Car categories at the 2020 World Car Awards.
Richard Phillips
Acclaimed American hyperrealist artist Richard Phillips was born in Massachusetts and lives in New York City. His works are on display around the world, including in New York’s Museum of Modern Art and London’s Tate Gallery. Phillips first encountered Adolf Dietrich’s art at the Kronenhalle restaurant in Zurich.
