"If women are often my subjects, it's because they have been one of the main subjects of paintings for centuries. What really guides me above all, when I sculpt or paint men, women, animals, or objects, is the plastic aspect of beings and things. Plasticity exists indiscriminately in a woman, a still life, or a landscape."
E xecuted in 2003, Society Woman stands as a superlative example of Fernando Botero’s iconic portraits of women, underscoring the artist’s quest to impose his signature voluminous figures within the annals of art history. Here, Botero showcases an upper-class woman in her finest clothes and jewelry, recalling the regal portraits of Renaissance masters like Goya, Titian and da Vinci. By positioning his figure within the context of this specific genre of portraiture, Botero reaffirms his place within art history. Testament to the present work’s singular importance within the artist’s career, Society Woman boasts exceptional provenance, coming from the collection of Fernando Botero Jr., the artist’s son.
The Son of Fernando Botero on How Society Women Influenced the Work of His Father
Born in Medellín, Colombia in 1932, Botero is one of the world’s most recognized living artists of our time. Although his subject matters have always been local, his universal language of art is what propelled him to worldwide success. Testament to the artist’s enduring legacy, Botero’s works are housed in many important private and public art collections, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., USA; Ho-am Museum in Seoul, South Korea; Kunsthalle Nuremberg in Nuremberg and Neue Pinakothek and Staatgalerie Moderne Kunst in Munich, Germany among many others. Moreover, his monumental sculptures created for public spaces are on view in many major cities, including New York, Paris and Rome.
Image © Bridgeman Images
A voluptuous female figure dominates the expansive canvas of Society Woman, her size, presence, and elegant attire commanding the viewer’s attention. Dressed in a sumptuous red gown further complemented by gleaming jewels and a luxurious clutch, she exudes both affluence and power. Her hair is neatly styled with a matching red bow, and her gaze, directed off to the side, conveys an air of pomposity and self-assurance.The figure's exaggerated proportions, with an emphasis on her rounded, curvaceous form, are quintessentially Botero, inviting both admiration and contemplation of the human body in its most indulgent and sensual form. In Society Woman, Botero imbues his subject with grace, feminine allure, and confidence, celebrating the fullness of her form.
Known for his iconic depictions of rounded, voluminous figures, Botero has spent decades blending humor and social commentary across a wide range of subjects, from Colombia’s political turmoil to its cultural undercurrents, and from the clergy to the elite. Since relocating to Europe in 1952, Botero has looked to an eclectic mix of art-historical influences, drawing on the classical elegance of Titian and Velázquez, the vivid sensuality of Rubens, and the solid formalism of Giotto and Masaccio. His distinctive "Boteromorphs"—figures marked by exaggerated volumes and soft, sensual lines—resist conventional standards of beauty, creating a world where excess and grace coexist. Botero’s early fascination with the glamorous “Vargas girls” in Esquire magazine fueled his lifelong exploration of abundance in art. In works like Society Woman, this obsession manifests in a portrait that defies the ideals of traditional portraiture. The subject, poised and opulent in her rich red gown and sparkling jewelry, is rendered with the artist’s signature exaggerated proportions, offering a playful yet powerful statement on beauty, power, and societal expectations. Her formidable presence, combined with her charm, embodies Botero’s signature approach to combining monumental forms with wit and subtle critique.
RIGHT: Leonardo da Vinci, La Belle Ferronnière, 1490–1496. The Louvre Museum, Paris.
Society Woman further exemplifies Botero's ongoing exploration of the female figure, a subject that has been central to his oeuvre for decades. From his early depictions of women in everyday settings to his more recent portraits like Society Woman, Botero has consistently portrayed women with an emphasis on fullness, strength, and grandeur. His work often highlights the contrast between the soft sensuality of the body and the sculptural qualities of the human form, capturing a timeless beauty in exaggerated proportions. As a hallmark of his artistry, this approach creates a tension between realism and fantasy, making the viewer reconsider conventional ideals of beauty and proportion.
Positioned within the tradition of portraiture, Society Woman evokes the grandeur and sumptuousness of Renaissance and Baroque portraits while subtly subverting them. From Renaissance portraitists like Leonardo da Vinci and Titian, who defined an ideal of aristocratic portraiture, capturing their subjects in refined, dignified poses and clothing that conveyed wealth, status, and power to contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol, who reinvigorated the practice with his silkscreen portraits of socialites, business magnates and cultural icons in the 1980s, Botero similarly elevates and immortalizes the women of Latin America. By rendering his figure in his signature exaggerated, voluminous style, Botero distorts the idealized proportions of classical portraiture, turning the conventions of beauty and status on their head. His subject is not only larger than life in size but also in presence, with her rounded form defying the slender ideals seen in historical depictions of the aristocracy. In doing so, Botero critiques the cultural obsession with conventional beauty and societal norms, while simultaneously affirming the status and power of his subject. In this way, Society Woman is both a continuation and a subversion of the portrait tradition—one that reflects Botero’s unique ability to reimagine art historical precedents through his lens of sensuality, exaggeration, and playful critique.
