The Art of Bugatti

by Michael Satterfield

I was invited to a preview of the new Petersen Museum exhibit The Art of Bugatti, last night in Los Angeles. It was an exciting event and featured some of the most important cars in Bugatti's history, as well as the artwork and furniture designed by members of the Bugatti family. It was a great event and you can check out more info in the official release below.

Official Release:

The Petersen Automotive Museum is pleased to announce the opening of its newest exhibition, The Art of Bugatti. The exhibition features a rare assemblage of Bugatti family artwork and Bugatti automobiles including rare Atlantic and Royale models, as well as the fastest production super sports car ever built, the new Bugatti Chiron. The exhibit is located in the Mullin Grand Salon on the museum's first floor and will run through the fall of 2017.

"The work of the Bugatti family has become a great passion of mine over the years," said Peter Mullin, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Petersen Automotive Museum. "They are one of the greatest art dynasties of the 20th century and yet many people are only familiar with their automotive works. The purpose of this exhibit is to help the public see how four generations of one family have been creating beauty in different ways – furniture, sculpture, paintings, writings and automobiles. The mediums differ but their passion and aesthetic is constant."

"This is the most significant Bugatti exhibition ever mounted. It is a great honor for us and we would like to thank the Petersen Automotive Museum, and Peter Mullin in particular, for making this possible”, said Stefan Brungs, Member of the Board of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. for Sales, Marketing and Customer Service at the opening event. “No other automotive manufacturer could display the history of the brand with sculptures, furniture, paintings and many other objects of decorative art in addition to a host of dazzling automotive masterpieces, which is crowned by Bugatti’s latest creation, the new Chiron. The Art of Bugatti is celebrating the roots, the past, the presence and the future of this unique brand."

The Art of Bugatti exhibit gives museum-goers an inside look at the history of the Bugatti family beginning with its patriarch, Carlo Bugatti, and his unique path through the arts which included a mastery of architecture, painting, Art Nouveau furniture design and silversmithing. It then goes into great detail on the work of his sons, sculptor Rembrandt and carmaker Ettore Bugatti, as well as Ettore’s children and studies the influence of Rembrandt’s animal-life sculptures on his brother Ettore’s art-deco era automotive designs, both of which incorporate the Fibonacci sequence, or "golden mean." Art of Bugatti also offers a history of the family itself, including correspondence and historical artifacts.

The vehicles on display include the 1925 Bugatti Type 35C Grand Prix, a 1939 Bugatti Type 44 Fiacre, a 1930 Bugatti Type 46 Cabriolet, a 1931 Bugatti Type 50 S, a 1931 Bugatti Type 54, a 1932 Bugatti Type 55 Supersport, one of four 1935 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantics, 1939 Bugatti Type 57C Aravis by Gangloff, a 1939 Bugatti Type 57C by Vanvooren, a 1939 Bugatti Type 57C Atalante by Gangloff, 1939/49 Bugatti Type 57C Atalante, and the last Bugatti overseen by members of the family, the 1951 Bugatti Type 101C. Also on display are the extremely rare 1994 Bugatti EB110 Super Sport Le Mans and the aforementioned Chiron, which will be on display until early November.

Guests will learn of the Bugatti family’s great triumphs and many tragedies beginning with the death of Rembrandt as well as the untimely death of Ettore’s son Jean Bugatti. In addition to the vehicles, the exhibit includes paintings, sculpture, writings, furniture and other Bugatti family designs.

The Art of Bugatti exhibition represents a once in a lifetime opportunity for museum guests to experience the Bugatti family in all their splendor and to see an unprecedented number of their beautiful automobiles in one place, displayed as they should be, as art. For more information on the Art of Bugatti exhibition or the Petersen Automotive Museum, please visit www.Petersen.org or call 323/930-CARS.