An illumination apparatus for a motor vehicle includes a light source for emitting light of a first mixed color, said light source containing one or more laser diodes for generating monochromatic light and a first conversion element for converting the monochromatic light into the light of the first mixed color. The illumination apparatus also includes a first optical device which images the light source as a real image in an intermediate image plane, and a second optical device which generates a predefined light distribution from the real image in the intermediate image plane. A second conversion element is provided at the site of the real image in the intermediate image plane in order to convert the light of the first mixed color into light of a second mixed color.