Rembrandt BUGATTI

Rembrandt BUGATTI
(1884 - 1916)
Deux petits léopards l’un derrière l’autre, c. 1912
Bronze à patine noire nuancée de brun, socle en bois naturel ciré - Bronze with dark patina
with light brown undertones, waxed natural wooden base
Fonte à cire perdue de A.A. Hébrard, Paris, antérieure à 1920 (cachet du fondeur sur la terrasse
: A.A. Hébrard, cire perdue) - Lost wax bronze by A.A. Hébrard, Paris, prior to 1920 (stamp
from the foundry on the base : A.A. Hébrard, cire perdue)
Signé et numéroté sur la terrasse : R. BUGATTI et 3 - Signed and numbered on the base: R.
BUGATTI and 3
H 37,5 cm, terrasse : 53 x 10,5 cm
Provenance
Acquis par M. Watelin en 1920 auprès de la Galerie Hébrard - Acquired by M. Watelin in
1920 from the Galerie Hébrard
Vente Delorme et Fraysse, 23 février 2000 (lot 00140) - Sale Delorme & Fraysse, February 23,
2000 (lot 140)
Collection privée - Private collection
Bibliographie - Bibliography
Alte Nationalgalerie, Rembrandt Bugatti, The Sculptor 1884-1916, Berlin, 2014, ill. p. 121
Veronique Fromanger, Catalogue raisonné, Rembrandt Bugatti Répertoire Monographique,
Les éditions de l'Amateur, Paris, 2009, p. 330, ill. no. 300
Edward Horswell, Rembrandt Bugatti. Une vie pour la sculpture, Sladmore Gallery Editions,
London, 2004, ill. pp. 88-89
Jacques-Chalom des Cordes et Véronique Fromanger Des Cordes, Rembrandt Bugatti,
Catalogue Raisonné, Paris, 1987, ill. p. 270
Philippe Dejean, Bugatti: Carlo, Rembrandt, Ettore and Jean, 1982, ill. p. 149
Mary Harvey, The Bronzes of Rembrandt Bugatti, 1979, ill. p. 36
Expositions - Exhibitions
2014
Berlin, Alte Nationalgalerie, Rembrandt Bugatti the Sculptor 1884-1916
2004
Londres, The Sladmore Gallery, Rembrandt Bugatti, Sculpture
1929
Londres, Abdy & Co. Galleries, Animal sculpture by R. Bugatti
1922
Paris, Galerie A.A. Hébrard, Exposition des dernières oeuvres de Rembrandt Bugatti,
1884-1915
1913
Paris, Galerie A.A. Hébrard, Rembrandt Bugatti. Rétrospective
Notes
Anciennes collections répertoriées :
1912 : M. Delaroche (n°INV.2496)
1913 : M. Henri Pelliot (n°INV.2890)
1920 : M. Watelin (n°INV.3279)
1922 : Sir Philip Sassoon, Londres (n°INV.3420)
1924 : Comte Lacour de Montalba, Carcassonne (n°INV.3543)
1924 : M. Jules Dorget, Epinal (n°INV.3756)
1925 : M. Lenoir, Buenos Aires (n°INV.3779)
1925 : Galerie A.-A. Hébrard (n°INV.3999)
1931 : M. Bernheim, Elbeuf (n°INV.4348)
1931 : M. Layat Drampt, Lyon (n°INV.4872)
Casting Note:
This rare model was produced in a small edition of just 10 numbered casts. The Hébrard
archives show that this cast, numbered ‘3’, was sold in 1920 by the Galerie A. A. Hébrard to a
M. Watelin. Whilst this example was not sold until 1920, cast no. 2 was sold in 1913 and in
our opinion, due to the fine quality and particularly special multi coloured patina, this bronze
was also cast around this time, circa 1913.
Footnote:
Bugatti's two leopards (the male with raised tail) is perhaps the most spectacular of the series
of big cat sculptures which Bugatti worked on in 1911. Indeed, he exhibited a series of pairs of
leopards at the Hébrard Gallery in that year. Another model shows the same pair of animals, in
an attitude observed perhaps a few seconds earlier, the male already following the female.
Whilst all of Bugatti's animal groups depict interrelating behaviour, these leopards seem to be
performing a mating ritual, and as such are distinct within his oeuvre.
These works mark a unique moment in the artist's vision, between the impressionist vitality of
his earlier work and the schematic power and surface energy of his later, more 'expressionist'
pieces. The sinuous contours of the animals' spines and limbs, and the fabulous arabesques of
the tails, conduct abstract rhythms of extraordinary lyricism. The delicacy of the paws, and
their light tread, give a choreographed quality to the group, although viewed in the round the
piece has remarkable all-round movement.
At the same time Bugatti's truth to observation remains absolute. The stretch of muscles and
angles of weight-bearing limbs is perfectly captured. Indeed, the flicked tip of the raised tail
must indicate a particular quirk of this beast's anatomy - a particularity that the artist picked up
on in other sculptures, reflecting his meticulous faithfulness to appearances and his treatment
of each work as a true 'portrait' of an individual animal.