Fernando Botero Paintings & Drawings
W. Spies

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Fernando Botero, born in Colombia in 1932, belongs among the few major artists of the post-World War II era to have consistently worked in a figurative style. His distinctive figures - rotund and swollen to monumental proportions - articulate both his profound consciousness of artistic tradition and a gently satirical observation of his fellow human beings. Botero, who maintains studios in New York, Paris, and Tuscany, assimilates historical and contemporary influences with rare artistic skill to produce images that synthesize, in a deceptively simple manner, his experiences of Latin American and Western cultures. Botero's subject matter, wide-ranging and deeply rooted in his South American heritage, includes portraits, bordello scenes, bullfights, landscapes, and still lifes. The artist's awareness of tradition is reflected in his consummate technical ability - he has revived the art of pastel, for example, to great effect - and in a number of adaptations of works by such earlier masters as Durer, Leonardo, and Velazquez. The expertly reproduced paintings and drawings in this book have been selected with the artist's help to provide a comprehensive overview of his work in these media over the past three decades. The plates are complemented by an introduction that discusses Botero's place in contemporary art and elucidates his work processes, by a fascinating interview with the artist, by detailed biographical notes, and by an exhibition history and a bibliography. Six short stories by Botero reveal a less familiar facet of the artist's creative personality.