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Rembrandt BugattiLéopard au repos [Leopard at rest]1911-1925
1911-1925
About the Item
Rembrandt Bugatti
Léopard au repos [Leopard at rest]
Lost-wax cast bronze, blackish-brown patina
31,5 x 49 x 13,5 cm
Signed on the base with foundryman’s stamp (A. A. [Hébrard])
Despite the sculpture’s title, Léopard au repos [Leopard at rest], a considerable tension subtends the metal. The noble creature is on high alert, standing to attention as if sensing its prey. A barely contained thew struggles within the material bounds of the bronze, a formidable physical strength that threatens to erupt at any moment. The loosely worked surface of this powerful sculpture trembles with life. Specific features are suggested, but never fully realised. Details yield to compositional coherence. Light plays over the undulating planes of metal, alternating sharply between dark and light. Upon approach, the surface appears irregular and textured: fingerprints are everywhere, evoking animal hair and emphasizing the artist’s presence, serving thus as a final signature. This natural, almost random quality reminds us of the living, breathing animal that inspired this work. The dark bronze, furthermore, is a source of mystery – from a distance, the sculpture resembles a silhouette. Yet the sculpture is also marvellously static, characterized by a refined calm. In some ways, the animal echoes monuments of reclining lions and sphinxes around the world. Its majestic appearance does, however, emerge more psychologically complex: by depicting his leopard upright, Bugatti invests in him a certain agency, of which purely decorative animal sculptures are deprived. It is as much a portrait as an ornament. Like his namesake, Rembrandt Bugatti was gifted with a rare ability to capture the essence of his subjects.
- Creator:Rembrandt Bugatti (1885-1916, Italian)
- Creation Year:1911-1925
- Dimensions:Height: 12.41 in (31.5 cm)Width: 19.3 in (49 cm)Depth: 5.32 in (13.5 cm)
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:PARIS, FR
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2003210338232
Rembrandt Bugatti
Fils du renommé décorateur Carlo Bugatti et frère cadet du constructeur automobile Ettore Bugatti, Rembrandt Bugatti est connu à la fois pour ses bronzes animaliers et sa fin prématurée. Né à Milan en 1884, il réalise sa première œuvre importante en 1901, une sculpture d’un quatuor de vaches qui révèle tôt ses préoccupations animalières. Le talent de Bugatti est rapidement reconnu et, jeune encore, il connaît le succès. Achim Anscheidt, designer en chef chez Bugatti Automobiles, dira qu’il avait une capacité singulière « pour saisir le mouvement des animaux dans ce qu’il a de plus expressif ». En 1904, il est pris sous contrat d’exclusivité par le fondeur Adrien-Aurélien Hébrard. La qualité et la patine du bronze qu’il reçoit ainsi demeurent très recherchées sur le marché de l’art. Fasciné par les animaux exotiques, il parcourt le Jardin zoologique d’Anvers pour trouver de nouveaux modèles. Bien au courant d’un regain d’intérêt pour les sujets animaliers au XIXe siècle dans les tableaux de Géricault et Delacroix, ainsi que des bronzes florentins de la Renaissance par ses compatriotes Giambologna et Verrocchio, Bugatti cherche à redéfinir le rôle de la bête dans l’art plastique. Tout se passe à merveille jusqu’à ce que la Grande Guerre éclate, où, s’engageant dans la Croix-Rouge, il devient tuberculeux. Touché par sa maladie et perturbé par les atrocités de la guerre, il se suicide en 1916 à l’âge tendre de 32 ans, interrompant tragiquement une vie si prometteuse. Les sculptures de Bugatti se trouvent au Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, au Musée d’Orsay, au Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne, au Hirschhorn Museum, Washington. Elles figurent aussi dans la collection privée d’Alain Delon. Dans la première décennie du XXe siècle, Bugatti participe à la Biennale de Venise. En 1911, il est officier de la Légion d’Honneur. Des expositions de ses œuvres ont lieu en 1904 et 1911 à la Galerie Hébrard, et en 1979 au Royal College of Art. En 2014, l’Alte Nationalgalerie de Berlin lui consacre une rétrospective posthume.
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