Every Ferrari is a masterpiece
Posted: 21.07.2015
Source: Ferrari
The great French artist Bertrand Lavier visits Maranello
Maranello, 21 July 2015 – “The greats all have one thing in common: an ability to get to the top and stay there, balanced, without ever starting to go downhill. That was the case with Mozart, who composed extraordinary music his entire life and never descended into mediocrity. Likewise for Van Gogh, who painted masterpiece after masterpiece. Nothing he ever produced was any less than that. Ferrari is the same: every single one of its models is a work of art.”
The words of Bertrand Lavier, one of the world’s leading contemporary artists, who has visited Ferrari at the invitation of Style Centre director Flavio Manzoni. The 66 year old French sculptor’s work centres principally around turning ready-made objects – such as cameras and cars, including a Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 shown at the Paris Exhibition in 2005 – into art. But this was not the artist’s first visit to Maranello. “Jean Todt invited me to visit in 2004 and coming back here is always an emotion. This is a fascinating place, both because of what you create and the structures themselves, all these buildings by the great architects.”
During his meeting with the Ferrari Design staff, Mr Lavier spoke about his own personal creative path, particularly the cars he has used in his art, from the Alfa GTV of 1983 to the more recent Ferrari Dino 308. He also made clear the importance of tradition in innovation, regardless of whether that refers to art or Ferraris: “There is a slender thread that links classical art to modern art, that runs from Caravaggio to Warhol who, although they expressed their creativity very differently, asked themselves the same questions every time they set about making a work of art. The same applies to Ferrari: when I look at the wonder that is the FXX K, I see a window that reminds me of the 1960s GTO and I say to myself that everything is connected. Another thing: there are certain Ferraris that were not greatly appreciated when they were first launched but then, as the years went on, people realised their beauty: time and distance allowed us to fully appreciate them and their value. And wasn’t that the case for many artists?”
