Lot 23
  • 23

Fernando Botero (B. 1933)

Estimate
700,000 - 900,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Fernando Botero
  • The Copyist
  • signed and dated 74 lower right
  • 71 1/4 by 76 1/4 in.
  • (181 by 193.7 cm)
oil on canvas

Provenance

Aberbach Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Condition

This large and impressive picture is in lovely condition. The canvas is unlined, the paint layer is stable and the canvas is well-stretched. It does not appear that there have been any restorations added, neither are there any damages. It is unlikely that there is any varnish to the paint layer, except perhaps an original finish. The picture is in perfect state and should be hung as is. (This condition report has been provided courtesy of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.)
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Born in 1932 in the remote town of Medellín, Colombia, Fernando Botero's initial exposure to the world of art was through books, magazines, and reproductions. It was not until the early 1950s when he traveled to Europe that he encountered first-hand many of the works he had known only as reproductions in his youth. It was during this time that he worked intensely on perfecting his technique, partly through rigorous studio training but more importantly through extended visits to museums, like the Museo del Prado in Madrid, where he painstakingly copied the great works of the European masters—Giotto, Uccello, Masaccio, Velazquez, Titian, and others. These early encounters with art no doubt nurtured his passion for the history of art and for artmaking. Thus the subject matter depicted in The Copyist (1974) seems quite appropriate for an artist who is not only deeply committed to his craft but who made a modest living as a copyist during those early years as a struggling artist in Madrid and Florence. 

 

Likewise the subject of the copyist's work—a still life painting—reveals Botero's enduring predilection for this genre as well as his fascination with the Spanish and Dutch Baroque masters of still life painting. And, while a number of Botero's still lifes may be viewed simply as a feast for the eyes, his insistence on this genre as well as the presence of unexpected elements or innuendos suggests a deeper meaning. So much so, that the artist has stated, "I believe it is very important that stylistic coherence should dominate the form of expression. In other words, in my work you will find that every item is depicted in the same style. The manner permeates the entire canvas. When you see a still life of mine, you will notice that the knives and forks, the fruit, the table, the napkins, everything is rendered in the same fashion, therefore the whole work radiates a sense of unity, harmony, and coherence. That is what communicates its essential truth."1 Botero's desire to communicate an "essential truth" is particularly relevant to the subject of The Copyist, a painting that with its trompe-l'oeil effects creates the illusion of a painting within a painting undoubtedly intended to challenge the viewer's assumptions about truth and the boundaries between reality and illusion. Much like the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte's notorious work La trahison des images (Treachery of Images) (1928-1929), a painting of a pipe with a caption that reads "ceci n'est pas une pipe," Botero simultaneously draws us into his illusion and then pulls the curtain to expose the artifice.

 

While Botero is best known for his paintings of larger than life figures and objects that exude a heightened sensuality and joie de vivre, the years from 1966-1975, also known as his migratory period—during which time he shuttled constantly between New York, Paris, Cajicá, and Bogotá—reflects a slightly more somber period, what one historian refers to as a perceived loss of innocence.2 The Copyist with its unexpected twist reveals this increasingly reflective side through a decidedly more ironic and complex work that transcends the formal possibilities of painting to reveal a deeper search for the meaning of painting.  This work is one of several produced during a two-year span in which the artist explored the subject of the copyist or the artist painting in his studio, including the poignant pencil drawing now in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, Painter of Still Lifes (1975) in which Botero inserted a posthumous portrait of his son in the far left peaking through the curtains observing the artist at work. Interestingly, while this series suggest a self-reflective stance towards painting, it was shortly after completing these works that Botero took a hiatus from painting and spent the next two years devoted to the production of sculpture. He would soon return to his first love, but nonetheless works such as The Copyist reveal a fascinating moment in the artist's prolific career and his ongoing dialogue with the history and practice of painting.

 

 

 

 

1 As quoted in John Sillevis, "Botero's Baroque," in John Sillevis, et al., The Baroque World of Fernando Botero (Alexandria, Virginia and New Haven and London: Art Services International and Yale University Press, 2006, p. 27.

 

2 See Cynthia Jaffe McCabe, "Fernando Botero," in exhibition catalogue Fernando Botero (Washington, D.C.: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution), p. 17.