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http://www.bugattibuilder.com/photo/albums/userpics/10003/rembrantportraitLG.jpg http://www.bugattibuilder.com/photo/albums/userpics/10042/Rembrandt_1.jpg Born in Milan in 1884, Rembrandt Bugatti was one of the most talented and individual sculptors of the 20th century. In a career that spanned little more than a dozen years, cut short in 1916 by his tragic suicide at the age of thirty-one, he created a prodigious body of work. His art combined enormous technical skill, formal beauty, and intensity of expression. Although his work resides in the world's major museums and is highly prized by collectors, Bugatti has only recently begun to be widely recognized in mainstream writing about 20th century art. The son of furniture designer Carlo Bugatti and the younger brother of famed car designer Ettore Bugatti, the audaciously named Rembrandt has begun to emerge to take his place alongside his famous relatives as one of the most influential artists of the period. Unlike his artistic predecessors, particularly the 19th-century French sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye, who precisely depicted wild creatures in violent combat, Bugatti portrayed animals at rest -- sitting, stretching, nuzzling, grooming. His understanding of animals was both empirical and empathetic. He worked from direct observation, creating clay models outdoors in front of the live animals he visited regularly at the Antwerp Zoo. While his artistic style evolved over time -- his surfaces ranged from sleek finishes to faceting that approached Cubism -- his compassion for the animals that were his subjects was unwavering, as evidenced by his highly sensitive portrayals. Although destined for engineering, Rembrandt's precocious talent for sculpture determined his vocation. His career as a sculptor spanned a mere fifteen years, within which he executed over 150 sculptures, before his untimely suicide. He received the prestigious title of the Légion d'Honneur at the remarkably young age of twenty-five, and was elected to the jury of sculpture at the Paris Salon. Bugatti galvanized the public with his sensitive and inspired renditions of the diversity of animal species. In Paris in 1904, at the age of 19, Rembrandt was featured in his first show organized by gallery and foundry owner Adrien A. Hébrard, to great critical acclaim. A reviewer of that time captured the essence of Rembrandt's talent, "all molded, one would say rapidly, with a sensitive thumb which leaves on them, besides its visible imprint, the stamp still quivering with the impression which brought them into being." Bugatti's love of animals led him to Antwerp in 1907. It was here at the Antwerp Zoo, known as the finest in all Europe, that he was his most productive and content. Bugatti would arrive at the zoo early in the day, set up his tools outside an animal's enclosure and attempt to capture in the clay the animal's inner serenity and natural grace. He was a quixotic worker who demanded of himself that the fully developed model be completed in one sitting. If this was not possible, the study was destroyed and he began afresh the following day. It was the spontaneity of movement and confidence in his ability that allowed him to breathe into each model the exhilaration and joy of life. Rembrandt Bugatti's cats and elephants are among his more sought-after works. When they rarely come onto the international art market, they sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. At Andevan Bronzeworks, we have faithfully recreated a collection of the very best of Rembrandt Bugatti's animal bronzes. They capture the beauty and power of Bugatti's originals in a way that makes them practically indistinguishable from those cast during the artist's lifetime. These bronzes are crafted using the finest pure bronze in the hands of the talented artisans working in our own California art foundry. Each sculpture is available in a limited edition of just 100 castings, and is individually numbered in the bronze. These artworks are sure to endure to be treasured by future generations. Works by Rembrandt Bugatti: [[The Begging Elephant]] [[Nubian Lion]] [[Nubian Lioness]] [[Stretching Leopard]] [[Walking Panther]] ---- Some more things found on Rembrandt Bugatti: In French, who can translate? Rembrandt Bugatti (1884-1916) : La cage abolie 27 septembre 2006 par Guy Braun Rembrandt Bugatti © Sladmore Gallery En sa monographie sur Rembrandt Bugatti, Edward Horswell cite le poème de Rilke, « La panthère » (1907), à propos de la sculpture du « Jaguar tapi » (1908), œuvre créée au Jardin des Plantes à Paris, que Rilke hantait lui-même quelque temps auparavant. L’animal permet au sculpteur une sorte de projection de son état d’âme : « On peut, selon toute apparence, à peine douter qu’il s’identifiait à ses sujets en captivité, y voyant une image de son isolement émotionnel. » [1] L’artiste libère par là même toute sa vigueur créatrice : « Quand Bugatti revint sérieusement aux animaux, les sculptures acquirent une profondeur et une résonance psychologique encore plus grandes. On aurait dit que l’étude de l’humain avait augmenté sa détermination à dépeindre les animaux en tant qu’individus animés d’une personnalité distincte et de bizarreries, d’une façon qu’il préférait ne pas explorer dans sa sculpture humaine. Il nous révèle de plus en plus jusqu’aux imperfections de chaque animal singulier, la queue sectionnée ou écourtée d’une panthère ou la patte cassée d’un cerf. Son travail porte davantage encore sur l’individualité de chaque sujet. » [2] L’animal se trouve la plupart du temps modelé en mouvement et il semble que, dans ce déploiement de son énergie, se révèle toute la puissance de son intériorité. C’est le vivant qui se manifeste dans la forme, non pas figée, même si elle est par la suite coulée dans le bronze, mais saisie dans l’instant. Edward Horswell parle d’une « passivité de plus en plus tournée vers l’intérieur et indépendante » [3] . Flamant rose © Guy Braun Né à Milan en 1884, Rembrandt Bugatti, dont le frère deviendra le célèbre constructeur automobile, a pour père Carlo (1856-1940), grand créateur de meubles et d’objets, et, pour oncle, Giovanni Segantini (1858-99), peintre de sujets bucoliques, à l’égard duquel Rembrandt éprouvait beaucoup d’affection. Très vite, ce dernier manifesta un grand talent pour la sculpture animalière. Il modela sa première œuvre à l’âge de quatorze ans. Son père, qui voulait en faire un ingénieur, accepta alors de revoir sa décision. La famille déménagea à Paris en 1903 et, bientôt, Rembrandt exposa à la Société des Beaux-arts et au Salon d’Automne. Par la suite, il travailla également au zoo d’Anvers. Ce qui le caractérise, c’est son extraordinaire don d’observation, sa qualité d’empathie à l’égard des animaux et sa faculté à déceler le trait individuel, ce qui fait dire au directeur de la galerie Sladmore : « Bugatti n’est pas un sculpteur animalier, mais un sculpteur en soi. » [4] La mise en valeur des caractéristiques individuelles du sujet et, de ce fait, de la qualité de l’instant où sculpteur et modèle se trouvèrent en relation, donne à cette œuvre un relief qui dépasse la forme décorative pour aller se charger d’un véritable poids existentiel. C’est là bien sûr que le sculpteur rejoint le poète en ce même lieu qu’ils ont tous deux fréquenté, le Jardin des Plantes, à Paris. Jaguars © Guy Braun L’enracinement dans l’instant se manifeste aussi dans la technique de fonderie. On ne cherche pas une forme lisse et sans défaut, mais la vérité de la matière telle que la révèle le geste de l’artisan. Chez Adrien Hébrard (1865-1937), fondeur et marchand de Bugatti, ce dernier suivait attentivement les étapes du moulage en bronze : « Le fait de laisser sur la pièce de telles imperfections apparentes visait paradoxalement à montrer combien tout avait été accompli avec soin, car la plupart des bronzes qu’on trouvait sur le marché à l’époque passaient par un burinage et un polissage d’ensemble à la pierre, permettant d’éliminer les barbes de bronze « en trop » et de gros morceaux de métal en excédent. Implicitement, Bugatti se targue de montrer en ces œuvres la pièce telle que, avec plus ou moins d’exactitude, elle apparut une fois le métal coulé, tour de force d’habileté. » [5] Rembrandt Bugatti cherche la beauté dans la vie et dans ses imperfections mêmes : « Jamais d’ailleurs il n’évita la pose maladroite ou l’espèce sans grâce dans l’espoir de créer des objets décoratifs populaires ou commerciaux pour les collectionneurs. » [6] Sa préoccupation formelle suit « le mouvement perpétuel de l’existence elle-même ». [7] Ses œuvres eurent beaucoup de succès de son vivant. Il exposa dans de nombreux salons et obtint de nombreux prix. Sa vie privée, sur laquelle on possède peu de détails, fut apparemment moins heureuse que sa carrière artistique. On ne sait pas vraiment pour quelle raison il se donna la mort à Paris, le 8 janvier 1916. Edward Horswell qui, dès l’enfance, a pu, grâce à la collection de son père, admirer les œuvres de Bugatti, s’emploie depuis plusieurs années à la faire mieux connaître, comme pour rappeler, en nos temps modernes plutôt chaotiques à cet égard, l’art à sa source : « En art, après les extrêmes matérialistes atteintes par le minimalisme (toile monochrome et installation de briques sur le sol de la galerie), on s’intéresse à nouveau à l’esprit qui anime le corps physique. Regarder de nouveau la somme de vie ineffable qui habite et, d’une certaine façon, entoure la forme des œuvres de l’artiste revient à saisir en elles l’expression éternelle du mystère de l’existence elle-même. » Abolissant les barreaux en recréant sous ses doigts l’élan de vie qui habite l’animal prisonnier, Bugatti restaure aussi pour nous, en puisant à l’essence du vivant, cette liberté du regard et de l’émotion que l’art réifié de notre temps a, de façon souvent dogmatique et sans pitié, aliénée. ---- The youngest son of Carlo, Rembrandt , born October 16th 1884 in Milan (Italy), is without any doubts the most gifted one of this artistic family. His animal sculptures reveal an extraordinary talent and are very much in demand today. Unfortunately, Rembrandt suffers all his life from precarious health and from unstable psychological make up which pushed him to commit suicide January 8th 1916, only 31 years of age. His first name is chosen by his uncle, the painter Giovanni Seguantini, " to encourage the fate ". In his family, his nickname is Pempa. Like Ettore , the childhood of Rembrandt is amidst the artistic and non-conformist surroundings of the Bugatti family, in contrast to this his mother, Teresa , reflects on him the frustrations of her youth due to a fragile health aggravated by the difficult birth of Rembrandt. Hardly 30 years old, Teresa is obliged to leave and to lead a very quiet and out-of-the-way life, and her bitterness will not stop growing. In spite of the very hard attitude of his mother to him, Rembrandt will stay during his all life a loving and respectful son, but will psychologically be marked in life by this lack of affection. Rembrandt, from his youngest age, dreams to become a train driver and his father directs him to an engineer's career. He lets him work in his workshop to teach him to use his hands. Rembrandt is only 14 years old in 1899 when his father Carlo and sculptor Troubetzkoï discover in the workshop a still wet sculpture representing a farmer leading cows by a rope. Both men are dazzled by the artistic quality of this sculpture that is the very first work known of Rembrandt. On the recommendations of Troubetzkoï, Rembrandt enters the Brera Academy of Milan where he quickly acquires the reputation of an exceptionally gifted pupil. Ettore had discovered before the others the gifts of his brother, because he had left the same academy one year earlier, when he noticed that Rembrandt was much more endowed than him ... On September 29th, 1899, his uncle Giovanni Segantini dies and Rembrandt is very marked by this disappearance. He also suffers from his physical appearance : he is very tall (1.93 m), endowed with an unusual force, lanky and decked out by a head quite in length with a prominent forehead. This uncommunicative and taciturn teenager takes refuge in work and produces numerous works between 1900 and 1903. In 1903, 18-year-old, he exhibits for the first time to the Biennial of Art in Venice, where he will also exhibit in 1907, 1909, 1910 and 1914. Then he exhibits in Turin and Milan, and becomes a member of the National Society of Fine Arts in Paris. An important turn takes place in his life in 1904, when he follows Carlo and Teresa to Paris where they settle down at rue Jeanne d'Arc in the 13th arrondissement. His father sold his Milanese workshop of furniture manufacture, very attracted by France and by artistic brilliance of Paris. Rembrandt often goes to the Garden of Plants because of the animals which are kept here and which he uses as models. Adrien-Aurelien Hebrard , director of the Hebrard gallery, 8 rue Royale in Paris, and owner of the famous Art foundry which bears his name then contacts him. On July 22nd, 1904, Hebrard has him sign a temporary contract of pre-emption. As he made it 2 years earlier for Ettore with the de Dietrich contract, Carlo Bugatti has to countersign the contract with Hebrard because Rembrandt is still minor. A contract of exclusivity will be signed on one year later, on July 10th, 1905, also countersigned by Carlo. This period 1904-1905 is fertile, Rembrandt realises hundred of works which will be sold by Hebrard in his gallery where he exhibits regularly. Rembrandt complains nevertheless to have become a " sculptor of bourgeois living-room " and to be forced to supply works of small size that are well sold. He also exhibits the same year of 1904 in annual Show of National Society of Fine Arts in Paris, of which he was a member since 1903. It is also during this year of 1904 that he sculptures his famous " standing playing Elephant ", which will be slightly modified and melted in silver 24 years later to serve as radiator mascot to famous Bugatti Type 41, the Royale, conceived by Ettore in 1928. In 1905, Rembrandt exhibits for the first time at the Autumn Show, at Grand Palais near Champs Elysees in Paris. He notably presents there two remarkable works, existing only in a single copy: " Ten minutes of rest " and " The horse market ". He will exhibit almost every year to the Autumn Show until 1916. Doubtless always hung up by his physical appearance, Rembrandt gives evidence of an extreme clothing elegance and, as his father Carlo, draws himself his clothes. This aesthetic research and this elegance are a constant in the family, Ettore not being in rest, far needs ... In 1906, Rembrandt goes alongside to the painter Modigliani, to the poet Guillaume Apollinaire and to the great painter Andre Derain who will become much more later a friend and a faithful customer of Ettore Bugatti. He sculptures this year more than thirty works, of which near half represent feminine nudes. Rembrandt has just lived the happiest years of his life, in Paris. His works are well sold, even if the contract signed with Hebrard leaves him only crumbs on the sales income, but he always lives at his parent's and has no financial problems. In 1907, he is invited by the Royal Society of Zoology in Antwerp and leave to settle down in Belgium. This institution welcomes every year young sculptors by organising exhibitions and sales of their works. As invited, Rembrandt can reach freely the Zoo of Antwerp, largest one in Europe in the time. A workshop is given to the artists, but they have to pay themselves their flat. Rembrandt is very warmly welcomed in the family of France's General Consul in Antwerp, François Crozier. He exhibits at the Spring Show of " The Free Aesthetics " in Brussels where he meets a wide success. During these 7 years in Belgium, between 1907 and 1914, Rembrandt works enormously, spending most of his time at the Zoo and in his workshop situated Remparts des Beguines street. If he goes alongside to numerous young artists as Alberic Collin, Edward Deckers, Isidore Opsomer or still Walter Vaes , Rembrandt always remains so solitary, uncommunicative and few comfortable in social gatherings. Rembrandt begins to meet with financial problems, his large generosity for his friends and his clothes expenses not being foreign to it. When he is really in the need, he appeals in spite of his hesitations to his brother Ettore. He often goes in Paris to control the moulds of his bronzes at Hebrard, and frequents Pablo Picasso, Max Jacob, Andre Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck and Andre Salmon . But he begins to loose interest in the marketing of his works and prefers to exhibit in Belgium, in Brussels in 1908 and 1910, and in Liege in 1909. His health aggravates : he suffers from violent coughs and is going to take exams in Paris. The doctor's diagnosis is without appeal : he contracted tuberculosis . In December 1909, Ettore Bugatti has just created his motorcars factory and settled down in a luxurious villa, he urges all his family to spend Christmas at Molsheim. In spite of his tuberculosis, Rembrandt goes to it and will even manage to accommodate his tall carcass in the Type 10, the first Pur-Sang created by his brother. In June 1910, Rembrandt exhibits at Royal Society of Zoology in Antwerp. Critics are unanimous and praise to the skies this young artist (he is only 26 years old). On March 22nd 1911, France promotes him to the rank of Chevalier of Legion of Honour, upon request of Hebrard. Years follow each other and are alike : Rembrandt always feels the same evil to live, we do not know him feminine conquest, he is more and more solitary. Even the successes of his exhibitions do not manage to take him out of his disastrous psychological state. During year 1912, he writes this letter in Italian to his brother Ettore whom he likes, in spite of their so different characters : My dear Totor, I am satisfied that you give me of your news. I never write you because I have nothing new to tell. Year is as month, takes place; month as days; days as hours which follow each other, monotonous, without enjoyment nor pleasure. Yes, I still have moments of happiness by thinking of the success of my work that I begin and which will occupy me during three or four years before seeing the end. I hope and I believe to have managed to make a work that no former or modern animal sculptor made. You can have my workshop when you want it and for the time which you will want. I am amazed about the bust of the Prince, it has been quite a while since it is made, and you can say to him for me, to go to ask for it and it has been quite a while since there is nothing to pay out. I shall ask you for something, mom had to say it to you, because I wrote her finally ! I do not deceive your kindness and I give up asking to you for it still. On October 16th, drink to my health and think of me this day, I should be less alone. Here, it's as if I was in a desert between savages. My consolation, it is the zoo where I spend all my days. Kiss all my little nephews, your wife, and you. Your brother, Pempa In November 1913, the famous art critic Andre Salmon publishes a long and laudatory article about Rembrandt's work in the monthly review "Art and Decoration". During this time, Rembrandt is in the grip of more and more frequent problems of health and of disastrous financial situation. In the year 1913, he writes this letter, in French, to his brother Ettore : My dear Ettore, I write you it some words not with the idea to exploit you : it is in a moment of discouragement that I write you. Since I was here in Antwerp, my life did not change. At first it amused me but now this life demoralises me. Think that for 8 years I am accommodated in a room for 40 Francs a month, I eat in another pension, and pay, to rest or shelter me when it is raining, a workshop that I am satisfied when I am not there because it has 2.80 m on 9.80 m. It makes for it wet and that stinks of the mould. Of these three places of residence, I am never fixed to it in nowhere more than one hour because I work on the garden. My dream, it is to have a place where I can rest after my workday outdoors which is not always pleasant. I saw for a long time a large workshop that is for rent. I see the possibility of living in also but for that I have to make come back from Paris all my belongings. For it you know what is needed when we have nothing. I decide to ask you for the necessary because I learn that you are the owner of the Three Hinds bronze. It cost to me three working months and 800 Francs of cast iron paid to Hebrard, for it I ask you 1 000 Francs. With that I can settle down and live here another 3 years. Otherwise I could not like it any more. Write me immediately as soon as you receive this letter because I have to give an affirmative word or not to the building owner. You write me not rather often. You are not kind, all, you leave me very lonely. My sister-in-law Rina can indeed give me news from time to time. How are the kids and your health all, is it good ? Mine, thanks to God, is the least bad. I kiss you all. Pempa In 1914, it is the war. Rembrandt, not being mobilizable as a foreigner, undertakes as voluntary stretcher-bearer in a Belgian section of Red Cross established in the Zoo of Antwerp. City undergoes heavy bombardments, victims are uncountable and Rembrandt carries out its task with a heroism that will be worth to him being named Honour's Citizen by the city of Antwerp. It is interesting to note that his father Carlo will have the same heroic behaviour at the same moment in Pierrefonds. But the war horrors are too difficult to bear for Rembrandt in his already fragile psychological condition and he obtains, at the time of the collapse at the end of 1914, thanks to his friend François Crozier, France's General Consul in Antwerp, a safe-conduct which allows him to join Italy via the Holland. He spends some months in Milan at his sister Deanice (to whom Ettore also left his family) and tries to be incorporated into the army of his native country. But his age group is not mobilizable and he settles down in Paris in autumn 1915, first of all Magdebourg street, then in a workshop situated Joseph Bara street in Montparnasse. In spite of the war, and doubtless to forget all the horrors of which he was the witness, Rembrandt recovers in the work. Ettore also settled down in Paris, in his apartment situated 20 Boissière street, but he works intensively on the creation of his plane engines, 8 then 16 cylinders, intended for the allied Forces. In spite of their nearness, they see each other very little. Rembrandt sculptures then for the Count de Gramont a life-size Christ, the "Crucifixion", which will be at the same time its masterpiece and one of its last works. On Saturday, January 8th, 1916, 31-year-old, Rembrandt Bugatti ends his days poisoning itself by city gas, having attended same morning a mass in the Madeleine Church in Paris. We find him in his Montparnasse workshop, spread on his bed in a irreproachable dress of holiday. A bouquet of violets and two letters are put on his bedside table : one for the chief constable of the district, the other one for his brother Ettore. He dies after his transfer at the Laennec hospital. In spite of his suicide, Catholic Church authorises religious funeral service in the Saint Germain des Pres church. He will be interred in the family vault of Dorlisheim, very close from Molsheim. His last work, representing a lioness crushing a snake, will be signed by Ettore Bugatti with the sentence : " last work of my brother - Paris January 8th, 1916 ". At the request of Ettore, Albino Palazzolo, the Milanese foundry Master of Hebrard who had been engaged thanks to Rembrandt, executes a death mask of Rembrandt, which today is at the Orsay Museum in Paris.
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