Rembrandt Bugatti (1884 - 1916), Deux petits léopards

Rembrandt Bugatti (1884 - 1916), Deux petits léopards

Conceived in 1911. According to Véronique Fromanger, the present bronze is the second cast from an edition of 27, executed circa 1913. Inscribed R. Bugatti, numbered 2, and stamped with the foundry mark A.A. Hébrard cire perdue. Bronze. 93 cm. Est. 350,000—450,000 USD

This work is recorded in the archives of the Rembrandt Bugatti Conservatoire, Paris.

PROVENANCE: Private Collection, France (acquired in the 1930s)
Private Collection (by descent from the above and sold: Sotheby's, London, June 20, 2006, lot 341)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES: Jean-Luc de Rudder, 'Rembrandt Bugatti admiré par Rodin', L'Estampille, Paris, 1973, no. 39, illustrations of another cast pp. 38-41
Mary Harvey, The Bronzes of Rembrandt Bugatti, Ascot, 1979, no. 28, illustration of another cast p. 36
Philippe Dejean, Carlo-Rembrandt-Ettore-Jean Bugatti, Paris, 1981, illustration of another cast pp. 148 & 149
Véronique Fromanger des Cordes, Rembrandt Bugatti Catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1987, illustration of another cast p. 270
Les Bugatti d'Alain Delon, Paris, 1988, no. 12, illustration of another cast
Edward Horswell, Rembrandt Bugatti, Life in Sculpture, London, 2004, p. 85, illustration of another cast pp. 86 & 87

NOTE: Rembrandt Bugatti was born into a family with a strong and long tradition in the arts. His father, Carlo, was known for his exotic and fanciful furniture, metalwork and musical instruments designed in Italy in the last decades of the 19th century. His elder brother, Ettore, who became famous in later life for the mechanically advanced and eternally stylish Bugatti cars, had been the son chosen to follow in his father's artistic footsteps. After he exhibited an early predilection for engines and cycles, he relinquished his place to his younger brother, Rembrandt.

In 1904, Carlo Bugatti moved his family to Paris and it was in that same year at the age of nineteen that Rembrandt was elected to the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and began to exhibit at the Paris salons. It was also at this time that he was introduced to Adrien Hébrard, a publisher, collector and art patron. Hébrard's foundry was known to produce the highest quality casts and to represent some of the more avant-garde artists of the period, including Degas, Dalou and Jouve. As Deux petits léopards demonstrates, "the casting is one of the attractions which makes Rembrandt Bugatti's sculptures so precious in the eyes of many collectors. Indeed, it is perfection in the translation of detail, the slightest quiver is espoused by the molten metal, and there is the richness and warmth of the patina and its generally dark quality which was desired by the artist" (Philippe Dejean, op. cit., p. 138).

Bugatti's love of animals led him to Antwerp in 1907. It was here at the Antwerp Zoo, known then as the finest in all Europe, that he was his most productive and content. He would arrive at the zoo early in the day, set up his tools outside an animal's enclosure and attempt to capture in clay the animal's inner serenity and natural grace. In Deux petits léopards, Bugatti encapsulates the streamlined power and slinking, feline gait of the two big cats in a whimsical, yet entirely naturalistic composition. The artist's meticulous attention to the nuances of musculature and movement, as well as his infinitely subtler references to emotion and personality, betrays his respect and awe for the beasts immortalized here. In doing so, Bugatti has fulfilled his promise that, "I will work with all my strength to go as high as I am able. I hope and I believe that I will succeed in creating a work such as no other animal sculptor ancient or modern has achieved before" (quoted in Phillipe Dejean, ibid, p. 141).

Sotheby's. Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale. 05 May 09. New York www.sothebys.com Photo courtesy Sotheby's