In the exquisite modelling of the Petit léopard marchant, Bugatti demonstrates his extraordinary eye for anatomical accuracy as well as his ability to evoke the animated energy of his animal sitters. In addition to capturing their physical reality, Bugatti imbues each with emotion - in the strength of its stance and the hang of its head, the leopard here is demonstrative of Bugatti’s ability to convey a sense of character and expression in his depictions of animals (fig. 1).

Bugatti’s radical stylistic treatment of creatures from the animal kingdom reinvigorated the animalier tradition in European sculpture. His sculptures of big cats are among his most impressive; from leopards and jaguars to lions and tigers, they reflect a continuous development in style. Experimenting first with Impressionistic modelling, Bugatti began to move toward a more innovative evocation of form which was palpably modern (fig. 2). Conceived in 1911, the year in which the artist was awarded the prestigious Légion d’Honneur, the dynamic posture and sleek appearance of the Petit léopard marchant reflects this crucial development of style. The leopard’s legs divide the space beneath it in a rhythmic arrangement of diagonal lines and the head is set forward so as to create a continuous unbroken horizontal, giving the impression of insistent onward motion. Only the tail breaks the sculptural momentum, as it drops vertically before curving upwards in a gentle arabesque. Petit léopard marchant demonstrates Bugatti’s explorations of the abstract possibilities of sculpture.

Although Bugatti received no formal artistic training in his youth, he demonstrated a proclivity for modelling from a young age. His father, Carlo Bugatti, was a fin de siècle artist renowned for furniture and metalwork and his elder brother, Ettore, was a keen engineer responsible for the eponymous line of cars. It was Rembrandt who would follow in his father’s artistic footsteps and by 1903, when the family had moved from Milan to Paris, he became immersed in the culture of the Parisian belle époque. It was, however, the zoological gardens of Paris, and later of Antwerp, with their variety of exotic animals that would have the most profound impact upon Bugatti (fig. 3). Choosing a free style of modelling in Italian clay plastiline and beginning without preparatory sketches, Bugatti was able to work amongst the animals that inspired him (fig. 4).

This proximity to his subject matter allowed Bugatti to pay meticulous attention to the nuances of movement and the distinct personalities of the animals. Petit léopard marchant retains the leopard’s distinct character, whilst conveying the reverence felt by the artist depicting it. As Edward Horswell has articulated: ‘Bugatti was not an ‘animal sculptor’ but a sculptor per se. Uniquely, his sculptures of animals are true portraits, each of an individual character. Fascinated as he was with human form, and adept at its execution, the variety of animal species gave him a range of surface, structure, rhythm and shape that fully exercised and stretched his talent. It is the profundity and seriousness that he achieves through these formal explorations that mark him out as a unique figure in art history’ (E. Horswell, op. cit., p. 64).