“The Art of Bugatti” – Unique Bugatti exhibition at the Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles

During their next visit to Los Angeles, automobile and design connoisseurs should definitely make a detour to the Petersen Automotive Museum. In the recently opened museum on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, a special exhibition opened a few days ago. Under the title of “The Art of Bugatti”, the museum is showing the work of the entire Bugatti family: automobiles by Ettore and Jean Bugatti, furniture, design objects and paintings by Carlo Bugatti, animal sculptures by Rembrandt Bugatti and much more. Never before have so many works by this family of artists been gathered together for a single exhibition. During the first three weeks, the automotive highlight of the exhibition will be the new super sports car of the luxury brand from Molsheim, the 1,500 PS Bugatti Chiron¹. The exhibition will continue until the autumn of 2017.

“‘The Art of Bugatti‘ at the Petersen Automotive Museum impressively demonstrates the roots of the Bugatti brand in art and design,” said Wolfgang Dürheimer, President of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. “We thank the museum for making this fantastic exhibition possible. There is no other automobile brand that can illustrate its history not only with cars but also with sculptures, paintings and design objects. This all makes Bugatti a unique brand.”

Automobile connoisseurs will be thrilled by the sight of the vehicles designed by founder Ettore Bugatti and his son Jean that are on display. Among others, the exhibition includes a Bugatti Type 35C Grand Prix (1926), a Type 41 Royale (1932), a Type 44 Fiacre (1928), a Type 46 Cabriolet (1930), a Type 50 S (1931), a Type 55 Supersport (1932), one of only four Type 57SC Atlantic models ever built, a Type 57C Aravis with Gangloff body, a Type 57C Vanvooren (all 1939), a Type 57C Atalante (1939/1949) and the last model produced under family ownership, a Type 101C (1951). The recent history of the brand is represented by a rare EB110 Super Sport Le Mans (1994), a Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse (2013) and Bugatti’s latest creation, the Chiron, which will crown the exhibition until the beginning of November.

Apart from these precious automobiles, visitors can also admire the work of Carlo Bugatti, Ettore’s father. At the time, Carlo was famous for his masterpieces in the fields of architecture, painting and furniture design as well as his work as a silversmith. Also on show are works by Rembrandt Bugatti, Ettore’s brother, who was already a successful sculptor in his own lifetime. At the time, his animal sculptures thrilled the world of art and they are still impressive today. His sculpture of a dancing elephant crowns the radiator grille of the Type 41 Royale and remains an emblem of the Bugatti brand to this day. The exhibits are supplemented by sketches drawn by Lydia Bugatti, Ettore’s daughter and by letters and other original documents that give a glimpse of the Bugatti family history.

“Visitors to this unique exhibition will understand why Bugatti automobiles are so coveted by collectors today,” said Julius Kruta, Head of Tradition, Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. “All the members of the Bugatti family honoured here were successful in their own field. The strong artistic influence on the work of Ettore Bugatti as a designer of automobiles is clearly evident and makes his creations automotive works of art. This is why this exhibition at the Petersen Museum can certainly be seen as an art exhibition.”

The Petersen Automotive Museum is located at 6060 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. The exhibition “The Art of Bugatti“ is open every day from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (www.petersen.org).