Carlo Bugatti
(1856 - 1940)
Carlo Bugatti was an Italian decorator, designer, and maker of Art Nouveau furniture, jewelry, and musical instruments. His distinctive aesthetic combined the organic and the exotic in novel ways that resulted in a body of work unique among the art of his contemporaries. He had early training at the prestigious Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan before relocating to Paris in 1875 and then continued his studies at the internationally renowned Académie des Beaux-Arts. Although he would return to Milan after completion of his training to establish a studio, his time in Paris this early in his life, and during the culturally rich period at the end of the 19th century, greatly impacted his personality and style.
In 1880, he started to make furniture in Milan, and promptly gained recognition with his ornamented, rectilineal, and oriental-inspired furniture designs. By the mid 1880s, he had already earned international acclaim, and at the 1888 Milan Industrial Arts Exhibition his works were very well received generating immediate demand from wealthy European clientele. During the subsequent decades, Bugatti cemented his status as one of the most influential designers of his generation and continued to innovate and incorporate a myriad of motifs and styles in his works.
Carlo Bugatti was an Italian decorator, designer, and maker of Art Nouveau furniture, jewelry, and musical instruments. His distinctive aesthetic combined the organic and the exotic in novel ways that resulted in a body of work unique among the art of his contemporaries. He had early training at the prestigious Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan before relocating to Paris in 1875 and then continued his studies at the internationally renowned Académie des Beaux-Arts. Although he would return to Milan after completion of his training to establish a studio, his time in Paris this early in his life, and during the culturally rich period at the end of the 19th century, greatly impacted his personality and style.
In 1880, he started to make furniture in Milan, and promptly gained recognition with his ornamented, rectilineal, and oriental-inspired furniture designs. By the mid 1880s, he had already earned international acclaim, and at the 1888 Milan Industrial Arts Exhibition his works were very well received generating immediate demand from wealthy European clientele. During the subsequent decades, Bugatti cemented his status as one of the most influential designers of his generation and continued to innovate and incorporate a myriad of motifs and styles in his works.