Rembrandt Bugatti (16 October 1884 – 8 January 1916) was an Italian sculptor, known primarily for his bronze sculptures of wildlife subjects. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he volunteered for paramedical work at a military hospital in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, an experience that triggered in Bugatti the onset of depression, aggravated by financial problems, which eventually caused him to commit suicide on 8 January 1916 in Paris, France when he was 31 years old.

Early life

Born in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

into an artistic family, Rembrandt Bugatti was the second son of

Carlo Bugatti Carlo Bugatti (2 February 1856 – April 1940) was an Italian decorator, designer and manufacturer of Art Nouveau furniture, models of jewelry, and musical instruments. Biography Son of Giovanni Luigi Bugatti, a specialist in interior dec ...

and his wife, Teresa Lorioli. His older brother

Ettore Bugatti Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti (15 September 1881 – 21 August 1947) was an Italian-born French automobile designer and manufacturer. He is remembered as the founder and proprietor of the automobile manufacturing company Automobiles E. Bugatti, wh ...

became a famous automobile manufacturer. He was given his first name by his uncle, painter

Giovanni Segantini Giovanni Segantini (15 January 1858 – 28 September 1899) was an Italian painter known for his large pastoral landscapes of the Alps. He was one of the most famous artists in Europe in the late 19th century, and his paintings were collected by ...

. His father was an

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

furniture and jewelry designer who also worked in textiles, ceramics, and silver metalware. As such, Rembrandt Bugatti grew up in an environment where a great many of his parents' friends were from the artistic world. In 1902, the family moved to Paris, where they lived in a community of

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

s. As a child, he hung around his father's workshop and was encouraged to try sculpting in

plasticine Plasticine is a putty-like modelling material made from calcium salts, petroleum jelly and aliphatic acids. Though originally a brand name for the British version of the product, it is now applied generically in English as a product categor ...

by a family friend, Russian sculptor Prince

Paolo Troubetzkoy Prince Paolo Petrovich Troubetzkoy (also known as Pavel or Paul; russian: Павел Петрович Трубецкой, translit=Pavel Petrovich Trubetskoy; Intra, Italy, 15 February 1866 — Pallanza, 12 February 1938) was an artist and a sc ...

(1866–1938).

Work

Rembrandt Bugatti was a young man when he began to work with the art foundry and gallery owner, Adrian Hébrard. He produced a number of bronzes, which were exhibited and promoted by Hébrard. Bugatti's love of nature led to him spending a great deal of time in the wildlife sanctuary near the Jardin des Plantes in Paris or at the

Antwerp Zoo Antwerp Zoo ( nl, ZOO Antwerpen) is a zoo in the centre of Antwerp, Belgium, located next to the Antwerpen-Centraal railway station. It is the oldest animal park in the country, and one of the oldest in the world, established on 21 July 1843. ...

, where he studied the features and movement of exotic animals. His sculptures of animals such as elephants, panthers, and lions became his most well-known works. The elephant mascot that sits on top of the radiator of the

Bugatti Royale The Bugatti Type 41, better known as the Royale, is a large luxury car built from 1927 to 1933 with a 4.3 m (169.3 in) wheelbase and 6.4 m (21 ft) overall length. It weighs approximately 3,175 kg (7,000 lb) and uses a ...

was cast from one of Rembrandt's original sculptures. His art works are now highly priced. A cast of his 1909–1910 bronze, ''Babouin Sacré Hamadryas'' (Sacred

hamadryas baboon The hamadryas baboon (''Papio hamadryas'' ) is a species of baboon within the Old World monkey family. It is the northernmost of all the baboons, being native to the Horn of Africa and the southwestern region of the Arabian Peninsula. These re ...

), was auctioned at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

in 2006 for $2.56 million. In May 2010, the ''Babouin'' reappeared at auction at Sotheby's (est. $2/3 million), along with a male and female ''Lion'' and ''Lionne de Nubie'' (est. $1.5/2 million and $1.2/1.8 million, respectively), a ''Grande girafe tête basse'' (est. $1/1.5 million) and seven other pieces from the S. Joel Schur Collection, perhaps the finest collection of masterpieces by Bugatti in private hands according to one report. One of the Bugatti pieces was reported sold apparently as part of a group of sculptures (with three

Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

and a

Noguchi Noguchi (野口 lit. "field entrance") is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Akira Noguchi (:ja:野口明, 野口明), baseball player, older brother of Jirō Noguchi * Akiyo Noguchi (:ja:野口啓代, 野口啓代), Jap ...

) for an aggregate of $20 million.

Later life and death

His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

. During World War I, he volunteered for paramedical work at a military hospital in Antwerp, an experience that triggered in Bugatti the onset of depression, aggravated by financial problems arising because now he was no longer able to give so much time to his artistic work. At the same time,

was forced, by feedstuff shortages, to start killing its animals, which deeply affected Bugatti because he had used many of them as subjects for his sculpture. In 1916, at the age of 31, he committed suicide.Philipp Demandt & Anke Daemgen: Ausstellungskatalog (''exhibition catalogue'') "Rembrandt Bugatti",

München Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

2014, p. 38 ff (in German) He is interred in the Bugatti family plot at the municipal cemetery in

Dorlisheim Dorlisheim (; gsw-FR, Dorelse) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Economy The headquarters of Bugatti Automobiles is located at the Château Saint-Jean just outside Dorlisheim. File:Dorlisheim, Ch ...

in the

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its low ...

département of the

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

region of France.

Gallery

Goodwood2007-055a Bugatti Hood Ornament Type 41 Royale.jpg, Type 41 (Royale) radiator cap Rembrandt Bugatti, Projet de monument - Allégorie de la Victoire.jpg, ''Project for a Monument − Allegory of Victory'', drawing (circa 1910),

Musée d'art moderne et contemporain of Strasbourg The Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg (MAMCS, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art) is an art museum in Strasbourg, France, which was founded in 1973 and opened in its own building in November 1998. One of the largest of its ...

Bugatti Molsheim 021.jpg, "Young female nude", 1907 (

Musée de la Chartreuse, Molsheim The Musée de la Chartreuse ("Charterhouse museum") is the municipal museum of Molsheim, a small town in the Bas-Rhin department of France. Founded in 1946 by Henri Gerlinger (1899–1959), it is located since 1985 in the former Carthusian monaste ...

) Hamadryas Baboon by Rembrandt Bugatti, c. 1910.JPG, "

Hamadryas baboon The hamadryas baboon (''Papio hamadryas'' ) is a species of baboon within the Old World monkey family. It is the northernmost of all the baboons, being native to the Horn of Africa and the southwestern region of the Arabian Peninsula. These re ...

", circa 1910 (

California Palace of the Legion of Honor The Legion of Honor, formally known as the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, is an art museum in San Francisco, California. Located in Lincoln Park, the Legion of Honor is a component of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, which a ...

) Deux lamas - Rembrandt Bugatti (RF 3060) 01.jpg, "Two

lama Lama (; "chief") is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term ''guru'', meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. The Tibetan word "lama" means "hi ...

s", 1911 (

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...

)

References

External links