Lot 31
  • 31

Fernando Botero (b. 1932)

Estimate
800,000 - 1,200,000 USD
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Description

  • Fernando Botero
  • Man on a Horse
  • inscribed with signature and foundry mark; numbered EA 1/2
  • bronze
  • 96 by 48 by 64 in.
  • 243.8 by 122 by 162.5 cm
  • Executed in 1992.

Provenance

Acquired from the artist
Private collection, Bogotá
Gasiunasen Gallery, Palm Beach

Literature

Jean-Clarence Lambert. Botero: Sculptures. Bogota, 1998, p. 148-149, illustration in color of another cast

Condition

The sculpture is in very good condition. The sculpture displays a mottled brown and black patina that is in very good condition. A 1" long dark brown discoloration was observed on the proper left upper arm of the figure. A tiny nick was noted in the bronze on the figure's proper right toe, on the proper right haunch of the horse and on the back of the horse's proper right leg. Several tiny scratches in the patina were found on the proper right nostril of the horse. A fresh wax coating protects the bronze surface. The sculpture is structurally sound with no significant scratches or abrasions evident on the surface. This condition report has been provided courtesy of Wilson Conservation.
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

Civilian society in Latin America has historically looked to its military as the saviors of the new republics created after Spanish Colonial rule ended. This resulted in the nationalistic cults of early 19th century heroes of South America wars of Independence such as Simon Bolivar, Bernardo O'Higgins and General San Martín, elevating them to almost demi-god like status where they are referred to as "Fathers of their countries".

 

The military, in turn, managed to retain a pre-eminent role in the political and economic developments of the newly created republics. Historically, not only did they de facto rule for most of the Republic's lives, but in coup after coup, their influence remained into the next government. This history has permeated the iconography of Fernando Botero.

 

It is no coincidence that in the Bolivarian countries - as they are called after Simón Bolívar, the Liberator—there is a statue of the local liberator in the main square of every city and small town. Most sculptures represent the hero as a military man. Emulating the Greco-Roman tradition of representing Emperors, Kings and victorious military figures on horseback, South American politicians have built numerous monuments to the national hero dressed as an army General on a rearing horse set on a high pedestal. This image unequivocally conveys a message of almighty force, towering power and maybe more importantly, reaffirms the legitimacy of the military as the "guardians of the republic".

 

Fernando Botero has helped demystify the decorum of power. In many of his paintings (see the President lot 28) and sculptures he has regularly appropriated and mocked the official military imagery by representing them in a sly exhibition of their weaknesses. It can be argued that the real hero in Botero´s work is the common man. Man on a Horse represents a middle class man in a bowler hat going about his business astride a diminutive horse. Contrary to the national hero's pose, he is stiffly and properly dressed, with his head turned to the side as if saying hello to the passerby. He is not on a pedestal, and his horse placidly stands at a halt, so contrary to the rearing horse of the traditional hero. In reality, the small business man is the real national hero as he keeps the country running. Axel Stein

 

Fernando Botero's interpretation of reality is unique in style as well as in execution. In a world where the viewer has been lulled into a trance by the media's bombardment, Botero's imagery still has the power to stop, provoke and even shock. Botero's sculptures, as we know them, came into being after a series of logical progressions that were inevitably borne as a complement to his two-dimensional work. His early oeuvre resulted from an intense study of the works of the Old Masters as well as analyzing the paintings of the father of modernism, Paul Cézanne. In addition to seeing those works during a trip to Europe in 1952, the paintings of New York's Abstract Expressionists were also of theoretical interest to the young artist. After giving up a professorship at the School of Fine Arts at the National University in Bogotá, Botero traveled to New York where he decided to make his mark in the art world. He arrived in the United States after already having had a one-man show at the Pan American Union in Washington, D.C. It was in 1961, though, when The Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired his 1959 masterpiece Mona Lisa, Age Twelve that Botero launched into the mainstream. As his style matured, the genre of his imagery became satirical renditions of fantastical personages of Latin America that are literally "larger than life."

 

As in his celebrated paintings, Botero's sculpture addresses his favorite subjects.  His depictions of nudes, generals, dancers, horses, birds and even the mundane still life were morphed to be seen in a new light.  Man on Horse celebrates the theme of the land owner who rode his horse to oversee the latifundio under his domain.  Indeed, during the colonial era, it was possible only by horseback to preside over the large tracts of land during the growing seasons.  Monumental in scale, the present work exhibits Botero's lifelong pursuit of capturing themes that were instrumental in shaping his childhood memories (Fig. 1) that would later prove fruitful in his artistic production.  Throughout Latin America, Colombia is well known for producing the famous "Paso Fino" horse.  Within Colombia, the finest equines are sired in Botero's native Antioquia.  Known for their smooth gait, these horses permitted land owners to cover large distances whilst offering comfort to their riders.  Man on Horse celebrates not only man's domestication of equines, but also captures the imagination of its viewer who can fancy himself astride a mount, "al aire libre."