New Rolls-Royce Comes With its Own Art Gallery

Aside from its sleek lines and ultra-luxurious interior, the new Phantom’s most unusual feature is a dashboard specifically designed to exhibit a custom work of art by the artist of your choosing.

“An understanding that the marque’s patrons are increasingly collectors of fine and contemporary art has led the Rolls-Royce Design Team to create a space behind this glass, in which patrons can commission and curate art, a space aptly named, ‘The Gallery,'” according to the manufacturer’s press release.

Alex Innes, Rolls-Royce’s Bespoke Designer and Creative Lead Designer behind the initial artist commissions for ‘The Gallery,’ invited an international selection of artists and “master artisans” to create installations for the new automotive exhibition space.

From Thorsten Franck’s depiction of Rolls-Royce’s DNA in a golden work titled Digital Soul, to a one-of-a-kind English rose sent to the Nymphenburg Palace in Bavaria for Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg to transform it into a delicate work of porcelain art, each artist commission is as masterful and bespoke as the vehicle in which it is displayed.

If you’re looking for something more to your personal taste, Rolls-Royce will work with any artist or designer of your choice. “If you have a preference for Jeff Koons, we will work with Jeff Koons,” Innes told Autoweek.

“As patrons increasingly commission a Rolls-Royce for its aesthetic power, they trust in the knowledge that only the finest materials fashioned at the hands of a collective of skilled artisans will produce a motor car that transcends its primary role as a means of conveyance, to become a meaningful and substantive expression of art, design and engineering excellence,” the statement continues.

The new Phantom was unveiled on July 27, 2017.