.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Véronique Fromanger has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
Bugatti created the model for Jument et son poulain in 1907, shortly after his arrival in Antwerp, where he would remain until 1914. His friend René Dubois, an associate at the Hébrard gallery whom he liked to call “his adoptive father,” took care of him during his stay in Belgium and regularly provided financial support. Bugatti wrote to him: “I received your letter this morning and thank you for the money you sent me. I am with Mr. de la Barrière and I am presently working on some superb horses of the Belgian breed, and next I will make some cows and bulls. I could have begun sooner, but I had to wait fifteen days to obtain plasticine” (Letter from Bugatti to René Dubois, 1906).
The horses in the present work bear traits of the Boulonnais or Ardennais breeds. This sculpture was initially conceived as a group of three, with a stallion at the rear, for the exhibition taking place the same year at Rue Royale. Here Bugatti succeeds in portraying the animal’s power, as well as its grace and tenderness, with subtlety and vivacity.
Bugatti created the model for Jument et son poulain in 1907, shortly after his arrival in Antwerp, where he would remain until 1914. His friend René Dubois, an associate at the Hébrard gallery whom he liked to call “his adoptive father,” took care of him during his stay in Belgium and regularly provided financial support. Bugatti wrote to him: “I received your letter this morning and thank you for the money you sent me. I am with Mr. de la Barrière and I am presently working on some superb horses of the Belgian breed, and next I will make some cows and bulls. I could have begun sooner, but I had to wait fifteen days to obtain plasticine” (Letter from Bugatti to René Dubois, 1906).
The horses in the present work bear traits of the Boulonnais or Ardennais breeds. This sculpture was initially conceived as a group of three, with a stallion at the rear, for the exhibition taking place the same year at Rue Royale. Here Bugatti succeeds in portraying the animal’s power, as well as its grace and tenderness, with subtlety and vivacity.