Rembrandt Bugatti

Louis Comfort Tiffany, New York (acquired in 1924)
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, June 7, 2002, lot 234
Acquired at the above sale

Philippe Dejean, Carlo, Rembrandt, Ettore, Jean Bugatti, New York, 1982, illustration of another cast p.151
Jacques Chalom des Cordes & Véronique Fromanger des Cordes, Rembrandt Bugatti, Catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1987, illustration of another cast p. 273
Edward Horswell, Rembrandt Bugatti, Life in Sculpture, London, 2004, illustration of another cast p. 233
Véronique Fromanger, Rembrandt Bugatti Sculpteur- Répertoire Monographique, Paris, 2009, no. 227, illustration of another cast p. 307

Work is in excellent condition. Greenish brown patina. Very minor surface dirt in crevices, otherwise fine.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Rembrandt Bugatti was born into a family with a strong and long tradition in the arts. His father, Carlo, was known for his exotic and fanciful furniture, metalwork and musical instruments designed in Italy in the last decades of the 19th century. His elder brother, Ettore, who became famous in later life for the mechanically advanced and eternally stylish Bugatti cars, had been the son chosen to follow in his father's artistic footsteps. After he exhibited an early predilection for engines and cycles, he relinquished his place to his younger brother, Rembrandt. In 1904, Carlo Bugatti moved his family to Paris and it was in that same year at the age of nineteen that Rembrandt was elected to the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and began to exhibit at the Paris salons. It was also at this time that he was introduced to Adrien Hébrard, a publisher, collector and art patron. Hébrard's foundry was known to produce the highest quality casts and to represent some of the more avant-garde artists of the period, including Degas, Dalou and Jouve.

Bugatti's love of animals led him to Antwerp in 1907. It was here at the Antwerp Zoo, known then as the finest in all Europe, that he was his most productive and content. As Véronique Fromanger, author of Rembrandt Bugatti Sculpteur-Répertoire Monographique, has written in her essay for Sotheby's, "Bugatti would live among [the animals], observing them at length, securing their morphologies, their attitudes the behaviour, their signs, their tones and resonance with his artistic malleability, each of them living in his own sensory world."

Together with four works in the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale on May 5th (Lots 42-45), the following seven lots from the S. Joel Schur Collection represent the greatest private collection of bronzes by Rembrandt Bugatti ever to be offered at auction. These exquisite examples all originate from early editions of typically less than ten casts. Their rich patinas and crisply detailed surfaces, down to the artist's fully legible thumbprints, tell the story of Bugatti's singular modelling ability and his acclaimed collaboration with the Hébrard foundry. Sotheby's is honored to offer this historic collection of masterpieces by a true genius of the 20th century.