Rembrandt Bugatti "Ours Brun Marchant, La Patte Droite en Avant" Bronze Sculpture
Bugatti’s "Ours Brun Marchant, La Patte Droite en Avant" also known as “Brown Bear Walking,” depicts a bear mid step in a relaxed position, on all fours, as if calmly surveying its surroundings. Bugatti has managed to capture the bear's thick fur, with detailed texturing, capturing the natural look and feel of its coat. The bear has an intense, focused gaze. The overall form is robust and solid, embodying the bear's natural power and majesty. As the brown bear paces within its small enclosure, Rembrandt Bugatti captures the rippling fur of its coat with streaks of plasticine. Its hind leg juts forward, part of a striking pattern of opposing movements. By the time Bugatti visited the Antwerp zoo in 1909, brown bears were housed in three cave-like dens, covered in ivy. The enclosure was meant to replicate Italian grottoes as they were depicted in paintings of the Romantic movement.
Item #: YB-21614
Artist: Rembrandt Bugatti
Country: France
Circa: 1910
Dimensions: 8" height, 12.25" width, 4.25" depth.
Materials: Patinated Bronze
Signed: R. Bugatti and stamped with foundry mark Cire Perdue AA Hébrard
Literature: V. Fromanger, "Rembrandt Bugatti, sculpteur, une trajectoire foudroyante, répertoire monographique, les éditions de l'amateur", Paris, 2016, p. 179 pour le plâtre, p. 344-345, n. 239.
Item #: YB-21614
Artist: Rembrandt Bugatti
Country: France
Circa: 1910
Dimensions: 8" height, 12.25" width, 4.25" depth.
Materials: Patinated Bronze
Signed: R. Bugatti and stamped with foundry mark Cire Perdue AA Hébrard
Literature: V. Fromanger, "Rembrandt Bugatti, sculpteur, une trajectoire foudroyante, répertoire monographique, les éditions de l'amateur", Paris, 2016, p. 179 pour le plâtre, p. 344-345, n. 239.
Bears had long fascinated Bugatti, with one of his earliest sculptures depicting a bear handler. The Russian artist Ivan Shishkin helped popularize brown bears as a subject with his widely circulated work, Morning in a Pine Forest (1889), which appeared on postcards. Fifteen referenced casts of this model are known to exist, most of them numbered.
Bears had long fascinated Bugatti, with one of his earliest sculptures depicting a bear handler. The Russian artist Ivan Shishkin helped popularize brown bears as a subject with his widely circulated work, Morning in a Pine Forest (1889), which appeared on postcards. Fifteen referenced casts of this model are known to exist, most of them numbered.
Related Content
Gem X Club Presents: Art Nouveau, The Genesis of Jewelry As Fine Art
Gem X's series of virtual jewelry chats, GemfliX, is always an honor to participate in. For our most recent conversation, Ben Macklowe discussed "Art Nouveau: The Genesis of Jewelry As Fine Art" in great detail, to an audience of more than 250 jewelry enthusiasts. Catch a glimpse of the conversation below, and visit the Gem X site to view more. ...
