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Pure beauty and grandeur.

DEDICATION // BERNAR VENET, 71,
FRENCH SCULPTOR

It’s as though it were only yesterday – an encounter in Berlin in the summer of 2009 that was to add a completely new dimension to my perception of what is commonly known as a “supercar”.

At first, I only saw the mass of people pressed against the window of the store on that famous street called “Unter den Linden”. I pushed through the crowd and saw an object that captivated me right then and there – the exceptional, perfectly captured in physical form. Beauty and grandeur fashioned in aluminum and carbon. 1001 PS, 16 cylinders, four turbochargers, a top speed of over 400 km/h. Breathtaking.

Two years later, Bugatti approached me with the idea of designing an “automobile artwork”. My first encounter with the Bugatti Veyron immediately came to mind. The task of adding something to this perfect design seemed impossible – after all, you don’t add paint to a Michelangelo sculpture!

But then I was struck by the idea of reproducing the Veyron’s construction plans on its body. It appealed to my interest in equations and scientific formulas. I saw this unusual artistic challenge as the manifestation of my extraordinary fascination for this car. All of my sculptures and paintings refer to nothing but the piece itself. Just like the Bugatti Veyron.

Working together with the Bugatti team, I experienced their extremely high standards first-hand. I saw the kind of commitment and the kind of technical expertise needed to reproduce mathematical formulas on the body of a car. These formulas were continued in the interior as embroidery. The result was like an haute couture creation.

Ultimately, my first encounter with the Bugatti Veyron in Berlin gave me the courage to totally immerse myself in this artistic experiment. This encounter was only a brief moment in my life. What it led to was a fascination – a personal passion even – for Bugatti.

PHOTOGRAPHER Andreas Mühe

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