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Lot Essay
Le génie créatif de Carlo Bugatti et de ses fils Rembrandt et Ettore – personnalités hors pair, tout aussi singulières que proches – déjà célébré en leur temps, est aujourd'hui largement reconnu. Caractère affirmé et esprit indépendant, Carlo Bugatti, convaincu de ses choix artistiques et de son écriture stylistique, reste une figure unique de la fn du XIXe siècle et du début du XXe siècle. Sculpteur, peintre, créateur de mobilier et orfèvre, il développe un style reconnaissable entre tous, nourri d'influences variées qu'il interprète de façon très personnelle. Fort de sa propre culture, s'inspirant du riche vocabulaire ornemental hérité des ébénistes de la Renaissance italienne – à laquelle il emprunte essentiellement son goût pour les marqueteries et fines incrustations – il s'ouvre très vite à d'autres mondes, mû par une constante volonté d'innover. Sensible à l'éclectisme caractéristique du XIXe siècle, il s'inspirera principalement de l'art islamique pour la création de son mobilier, fuyant le poids du classicisme historique. À la recherche d'un autre mode de vie, Carlo Bugatti conçoit ses meubles comme autant d'architectures orientalistes, à la géométrie marquée, dans un savant jeu de lignes et de plans soulignés d'arcs outrepassés ou lancéolés, de fnes colonnettes, de pignons, de frises denticulées et autres éléments typiques de ce vocabulaire architectural. Plus d'un siècle après, ses créations conservent le même pouvoir évocateur, la même étrangeté et la même force que lors de leur conception. Elles sont encore et toujours une invitation à un voyage tant esthétique que mental ou littéraire. Attentif à la qualité des matériaux, Carlo Bugatti peut compter sur le savoir-faire des artisans italiens pour traiter au mieux les bois divers, les éléments en cuivre, laiton et étain repoussés, les incrustations d'ivoire, ou de métaux qui ornent ses meubles, ainsi que le cuir ou le parchemin qui les gaine. L'usage extensif du parchemin est une signature propre à l'artiste, qui apparaît comme le seul à cette époque en Europe à en faire un usage aussi régulier. Il développe un subtil décor peint ou calligraphié sur sa surface plane. Avec le temps, il parviendra à une parfaite maîtrise de cette technique du gainage de parchemin – véritable prouesse – sous lequel disparaît entièrement le bâti du meuble. Son mobilier prend alors une toute autre dimension, où priorité est donnée à la forme qui se déploie dans l'espace, conférant au meuble une véritable qualité sculpturale. C'est durant les années 1901-1902 que Carlo Bugatti introduit la forme ovoïde dans son répertoire formel, dont la déclinaison lui permettra d'infinies variantes de composition. Sa participation à la première Exposition Internationale d'Arts Décoratifs Modernes de Turin en 1902, révèle son exceptionnel talent parvenu à maturité. Il y présente sa célèbre suite de quatre salles entièrement gainées de parchemin au décor intégré, dont le 'Salon escargot', ainsi qu'une gamme de meubles gainés de parchemin tel que notre modèle présenté dans la pièce-bureau. Si cette réalisation, sans précédent, suscite de vifs débats parmi le jury et le public, la modernité de sa vision sera fnalement reconnue et il obtiendra le Diplôme d'Honneur. La force et la singularité de ses recherches formelles ne trouvent alors d'équivalent que dans l'oeuvre de deux autres fgures tout aussi isolées : Antoni Gaudí en Espagne et Hector Guimard en France. Ancré dans son époque, à la charnière de deux siècles, Carlo Bugatti nous ofre l'image d'un artiste profondément moderne. Il nous propose une autre vision du monde et de la vie, alors en pleine transformation, cherchant l'harmonie entre les impératifs fonctionnels qui dominent le quotidien et le besoin impérieux d'imaginaire et d'humanité à travers une écriture qui reste unique.
The creative brilliance of Carlo, Rembrandt, and Ettore Bugatti – exceptional personalities, united by their lineage yet each quite distinct – was lauded by their contemporaries. Today, these artists are very widely appreciated. Carlo Bugatti was a single-minded fgure, confident in his independent perspectives; he showed unwavering conviction in his artistic choices and in the ideas that he developed. He stands out as a truly unique figure around the close of the 19th Century and the dawn of the 20th Century. Sculptor, painter, designer of furniture and of silverware, the style that he refned was immediately recognisable, assimilating varied infuences, yet interpreting these with a very personal touch. A cultured man, he found inspiration in the rich ornamental language of the Italian Renaissance – from which he surely derived his taste for marquetry and for fne inlays – but was soon casting his eye towards other sources, ever eager to innovate. In the tradition of 19th Century eclecticism, he was particularly drawn to Islamic art in his furniture design, fnding here an escape from the shackles of European classicism. Carlo Bugatti, in search of an alternative ambiance, conceived his furniture as the structural framework of an orientalist fantasy, referencing the characteristic lines and details of this architectural vernacular – the forms and surfaces punctuated by extended or projecting crescents, by slender columns, gables, crenelated friezes and by other typical motifs. More than a century after they were conceived, his designs preserve their evocative power, their strange character and their dramatic impact. They are a lasting invitation to voyage into the realms of the imagination, in search of literary and of spiritual as well as aesthetic fulflment. Attentive to the quality of his materials and his craft, Carlo Bugatti could rely on the know-how of Italian artisans skilled in the techniques of working various woods, in the forming of wrought-metal details of brass or pewter, in the intricacies of inlays of ivory, mother-of-pearl or metal, and those of the leather and vellum with which he embellished his furniture. The extensive use of vellum became a signature feature of the artist's work; indeed he was the only one in Europe to regularly use this material at this time. He liked to play on the contrast between these surfaces and the rich wood tints; and he developed the practise of ornamenting the vellum surfaces with painted motifs of Japanese or calligraphic inspiration. In due course, he became a true master of the technique of sheathing his furniture in vellum, taking the idea to the point of entirely covering and so concealing the wood structure. His designs thus took on an entirely different character as he gave priority to the creation of fuid sculptural forms. It was around this pivotal moment, circa 1901-1902, that Carlo Bugatti introduced the ovoid into his repertoire – a variable shape that became the basis of infinite elaborations on a theme. It was in the context of the frst International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Arts in Turin in 1902 that Carlo's artistry was presented in its full maturity. For this exhibition, he conceived a suite of four rooms within which all was covered in vellum, most notably his celebrated 'Snail' room and striking ancillary displays of furniture similarly clad including the same model presented here in an ofice. The unprecedented display sparked a lively debate among jury and public alike; the modernity of his vision was at last acknowledged and he won the Diploma of Honour. The authority and singularity of his formal investigations found equivalents only in the equally individualistic work of Antoni Gaudí in Spain and Hector Guimard in France. The product of his era, at that pivotal point between two centuries, Carlo Bugatti nonetheless emerges as a totally modern artist. He ofers us an alternative view of the world and of life. At a time of radical change, he sought a harmony between the ever-real imperatives of function and the overriding need to connect with our imaginations and our basic humanity. To this end he evolved a unique personal style.
The creative brilliance of Carlo, Rembrandt, and Ettore Bugatti – exceptional personalities, united by their lineage yet each quite distinct – was lauded by their contemporaries. Today, these artists are very widely appreciated. Carlo Bugatti was a single-minded fgure, confident in his independent perspectives; he showed unwavering conviction in his artistic choices and in the ideas that he developed. He stands out as a truly unique figure around the close of the 19th Century and the dawn of the 20th Century. Sculptor, painter, designer of furniture and of silverware, the style that he refned was immediately recognisable, assimilating varied infuences, yet interpreting these with a very personal touch. A cultured man, he found inspiration in the rich ornamental language of the Italian Renaissance – from which he surely derived his taste for marquetry and for fne inlays – but was soon casting his eye towards other sources, ever eager to innovate. In the tradition of 19th Century eclecticism, he was particularly drawn to Islamic art in his furniture design, fnding here an escape from the shackles of European classicism. Carlo Bugatti, in search of an alternative ambiance, conceived his furniture as the structural framework of an orientalist fantasy, referencing the characteristic lines and details of this architectural vernacular – the forms and surfaces punctuated by extended or projecting crescents, by slender columns, gables, crenelated friezes and by other typical motifs. More than a century after they were conceived, his designs preserve their evocative power, their strange character and their dramatic impact. They are a lasting invitation to voyage into the realms of the imagination, in search of literary and of spiritual as well as aesthetic fulflment. Attentive to the quality of his materials and his craft, Carlo Bugatti could rely on the know-how of Italian artisans skilled in the techniques of working various woods, in the forming of wrought-metal details of brass or pewter, in the intricacies of inlays of ivory, mother-of-pearl or metal, and those of the leather and vellum with which he embellished his furniture. The extensive use of vellum became a signature feature of the artist's work; indeed he was the only one in Europe to regularly use this material at this time. He liked to play on the contrast between these surfaces and the rich wood tints; and he developed the practise of ornamenting the vellum surfaces with painted motifs of Japanese or calligraphic inspiration. In due course, he became a true master of the technique of sheathing his furniture in vellum, taking the idea to the point of entirely covering and so concealing the wood structure. His designs thus took on an entirely different character as he gave priority to the creation of fuid sculptural forms. It was around this pivotal moment, circa 1901-1902, that Carlo Bugatti introduced the ovoid into his repertoire – a variable shape that became the basis of infinite elaborations on a theme. It was in the context of the frst International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Arts in Turin in 1902 that Carlo's artistry was presented in its full maturity. For this exhibition, he conceived a suite of four rooms within which all was covered in vellum, most notably his celebrated 'Snail' room and striking ancillary displays of furniture similarly clad including the same model presented here in an ofice. The unprecedented display sparked a lively debate among jury and public alike; the modernity of his vision was at last acknowledged and he won the Diploma of Honour. The authority and singularity of his formal investigations found equivalents only in the equally individualistic work of Antoni Gaudí in Spain and Hector Guimard in France. The product of his era, at that pivotal point between two centuries, Carlo Bugatti nonetheless emerges as a totally modern artist. He ofers us an alternative view of the world and of life. At a time of radical change, he sought a harmony between the ever-real imperatives of function and the overriding need to connect with our imaginations and our basic humanity. To this end he evolved a unique personal style.