Bugatti: Reaching for Perfection, Part 2 — Furniture and Sculpture

On April 2, 2025, I had the pleasure of viewing and photographing the remarkable exhibit "Bugatti: Reaching for Perfection" at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland. The show opened on Dec. 6, 2024, and closed on April 13, 2025.

I am hereby relying on the introductory text of the art museum's program to describe the exhibit.

"Although he famously declared, 'Perfection is never reached,' the Italian-born, French-based automobile manufacturer Ettore Bugatti pursued it throughout his career. In the years between the First and Second World Wars, the Bugatti name was virtually synonymous with automotive excellence, embodying the speed and dynamism of modernity. But Bugatti always signified more than a machine.

"Family patriarch Carlo Bugatti produced furniture and metalwork of startling originality. His sons inherited their father's artistic passion but pursued their own paths. Rembrandt had a tragically brief career as a sculptor of empathetic bronze portraits of animals. Ettore became a celebrated automobile manufacturer. He and his son, Jean, designed cars that were mechanically advanced and visually sturning. 'My first ambition,' Ettore said, 'was to be a great artist, and so earn the right to bear a name distinguished by my father.'

"A highlight of the Academy's exhibition is work from two private collections formed by fathers and sons. The automobiles belong to an Eastern Shore family whose collecting and care of vintage cars is a shared passion across generations. Awarded prizes at concours d'elegance (prestigious vintage car shows), these vehicles have never been displayed in an art museum. The sculptures are from the Arsidi Scuderi collection of Lugano, Switzerland. Inspired by patriarch Isidore Scuderi, a sculptor in Italy in the early 20th century, the Arsidi Scuderi family began to collect Rembrandt's bronzes more than thirty years ago and assembled a fine collection spanning the arc of the artist's career. The Academy is deeply grateful these families have made it possible to share the Bugatti family story with our visitors."

P.S. Regarding the 1926 Bugatti Type 39A Grand Prix Car in this exhibit: "There are just four sixteen-cylinder [classic] Bugattis in existence: two totally original cars in the French National Motor Museum, one built-up car with engine no. 4 in Germany, and this one. Its frame and body are both 'toolroom' replicas, a British term for an exact copy, built to original factory drawings and specifications. The engine is no. 5, the original Bugatti factory spare. All the other components -- the axles, gearbox, suspension, steering, and brakes -- are of original Bugatti manufacture." -- From "Bugatti: Reaching for Perfection," a wonderful book written by Lee Glazer of the Academy Art Museum of Easton. MD