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“What makes watercolor special and different is that the light comes from the whiteness of the support. That’s why some areas in the works are left unpainted. In contrary to that concept, most of the times in the oil paintings the colors cover all the surface.” Botero
In this recent series, the artist uses the canvas itself in his artistic palette to comment on painting, instead of obscuring the support. As such, Botero highlights the physicality of the material and likewise his painted bodies, but not in a stark manner, rather a playful and serene celebration of human life and art.
Created in dialogue with European Old Masters and Latin American colonial baroque art, Fernando Botero’s (b. 1932, Medellin) mature works exemplify the artist’s interests and painterly technique. His iconic, voluminous forms are presented here as village musicians, plumb painters, statuesque newlyweds, gratified picnickers, floating ballet dancers and corpulent models. These figures, arising out the painter’s imagination and daily life, speak to the inherent nobility and sensual forms of his beloved Colombia. Distinguishing these works on canvas is the delicate manner in which you can witness Botero’s construction of a scene through his strong lines and drafting marks. Art historian Edward Sullivan commented, “In the drawings...we are able to observe the direct confrontation with the blankness of the paper – with the nothingness that exists before the creative process gets underway. Thus, the act of making art, the formulation of a visual vocabulary and strategies for transferring what is observed either in reality or in the artist’s inner vision, can be most easily appreciated in a drawing [...] Botero’s drawings compel us to confront his art and his personality even more directly than in his paintings.” Process is central to enjoying these works. Botero’s clever use of watercolor creates a relationship between negative space and painted representation; the blank canvas and the characters animating it.
Picnic
2019
Watercolor and pencil on canvas
100 x 132 cm
39.37 x 51.97 inches
Signed and dated lower right "BOTERO '19"
Musicians
2019
Watercolor and pencil on canvas
129 x 98 cm
50.79 x 38.58 inches
Signed and dated lower right "BOTERO '19"
Dancers
2019
Watercolor and pencil on canvas
132 x 100 cm
51.97 x 39.37 inches
Signed and dated lower right "BOTERO '19"
A wedding
2019
Watercolor and pencil on canvas
123 x 99 cm
48.43 x 38.98 inches
Signed and dated lower right "BOTERO '19"
Painter of Still life
2019
Watercolor and pencil on canvas
97 x 127 cm
38.19 x 50 inches
Signed and dated lower right "BOTERO '19"
Horse
2017
Marble
48 x 34 x 26.5 cm
18.9 x 13.39 x 10.43 inches
Unique
Woman in a Shower
2005
Oil on canvas
205 x 103 cm
80.71 x 40.55 inches
Signed and dated lower right "Botero 05"