“He stared at the animals, watched their movements, studied their behavior for hours on end - until finally a spark ignited. Only then would he lift the lid of the briefcase, extract the tools of his trade, wire and plasticine, and frantically begin to mould the material with his majestic hands, breathing life into the form of a monkey, a giraffe, a zebu.”
A zebu is a species of cattle, characterized by a hump on its shoulders. Archaeological evidence depicting comparable forms on pottery and rocks suggest that they were present in Egypt around 2000 BC. Bugatti modelled his Taureau zébu in 1904; he had recently relocated to Paris from Milan and was granted privileged access to a host of exotic new animals at their zoo. 1904 was the same year that he met Adrién Aurélien Hébrard, the bronze founder who would become his lifelong collaborator. Hébrard recalls of this 1904 meeting: 'Upon the recommendation of a friend to go see the works of the young artist, his pretty name [Rembrandt] was, at first.mes t with distrust as I found it evocative of too much glory and too much art… I had seen the day before work by a German trying to replicate Bourdelle. It was enough for the week. Later, I was brought to Rembrandt Bugatti. Instead of a small Italian with dexterous hands, I found a true artist. This tall boy, skinny, blushing and quiet […] showed me, without saying a word, the modelled clays which represented a year’s worth of dedicated attention and work. These are the things I like to present to art lovers. In these, they will find the pulse of life which animates sincere works. […] Too rarely do I find a sincere and personable artist for it not be a joy of mine to introduce him to the public'.
