The Animal Gazer

November 27, 2017
The brief, tragic life of Italian sculptor Rembrandt Bugatti (1884–1916) is lightly fictionalized in this slight reflection on the events of his final years. Bugatti specialized in bronzes of animals whose behavior he observed during frequent visits to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris and the Antwerp Zoo. He admits an affinity for his models when he tells his brother that, upon observing them, “I understand perfectly their joys and sorrows.” Franzosini recounts anecdotes comparing animal and human natures in Bugatti’s conversations with his brother and the writer Remy de Gourmont; he also recalls the horrific spectacle of the Antwerp Zoo killing its animals at the outbreak of World War I in 1914 to prevent their escape into the town, but he shows little of its impact on the artist’s emotions, even when the zoo later becomes a field hospital where Bugatti volunteered (and the parallels between the preemptive slaughter and the human casualties of war become obvious). Franzosini does a solid job of depicting the artist’s life in prewar Europe, but his Bugatti moves through its setting as something of a cipher whose inner life must be inferred from the reproductions of his work that decorate the book.

December 1, 2017

Brother of the famed automaker, the eccentric, ever dandily dressed Rembrandt Bugatti moves from Milan to Paris to pursue his artistic inclinations and ends up casting his bronzes at the foundry used by new friend Rodin. (In a flashback, we get a sparkling anecdote about the two brothers burying three automobile engines in Ettore's backyard.) Rembrandt becomes increasingly intrigued by the animals at the zoos in Paris and Antwerp, observing them carefully and seeming to understand and empathize with them, as evidenced by his massive sculptures. The tone is mellifluous throughout, and it all sounds charming. But the reader has already been jolted awake on page two, as Rembrandt's concierge observes offhandedly, "The Germans continue to advance," and the narrative is soon thrust into World War I. Bombs are pouring down on Antwerp, and zoo officials are forced to make a terrible decision about their animals that shocks Rembrandt--and readers--to the core. VERDICT Multi-award-winning Italian author Franzosini's English-language debut is an irresistible, elegantly conceived example of biographical fiction.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.