Rembrandt Bugatti - 'Deux Léopards Marchant'

8 5/8 in. (22 cm.) high, 35 3/8 in. (90.5 cm.) wide - signed in the maquette R. Bugatti and stamped with foundry mark Cire Perdue A.A. Hebrard, cast number A3 - Estimate: $350,000-550,000

Note : Other casts illustrated:

cf. E. Horswell, Rembrandt Bugatti Life in Sculpture, London, 2004, p. 85-85.

V.F. Des Corderes, ed., Les Bugattis d'Alain Delon, Paris, 1988, cat. no. 24.

J.-C. and V.F. Des Cordes, Rembrandt Bugatti, Paris, 1987, p. 270.
P. Dejean, Carlo-Rembrandt-Ettore-Jean Bugatti, New York, 1982, p. 148-149.

M. Harvey, The Bronzes of Rembrandt Bugatti (1885-1916), Ascot, 1979, p. 36, no. 28.

This group is dated in Des Cordes to 1911. In 1955 a cast of this subject featured in an exhibition at the Royal Zoological Society, Antwerp, the context in which, years before, the artist had found the living inspiration for so many of his figures. This major retrospective was instrumental in stimulating the revival of interest in his work.

This work will be included in the new edition of the Rembrandt Bugatti catalogue rainsonnée currently being prepared by Véronique Fromager and due to be published shortly.

Christie's. Important 20th Century Decorative Art & Design. 18 December 2007. 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York