Fernando Botero (b. 1932)

Tasende Gallery, La Jolla
Private Collection, California

West Hollywood, Tasende Gallery, Botero in LA, 2010, p. 23, illustrated in color

This work is in overall excellent condition. This painting is unlined and well-stretched. White specks, possible not inherent to the work, are visible in the lower quadrant.
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The fantastical world of the circus has fired the imaginations of artists throughout the ages: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Georges Seurat , Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, George Bellows, Alexander Calder and María Izquierdo, to name a few. In 2006, while on holiday in Mexico, it was Botero's turn to become entranced with the mix of the make believe, danger and tragi-comedy he saw in a small circus in Zihuatanejo. Botero's circus series was then born, depicting strong men,  twirling ballerinas, acrobats, lion tamers, clowns, jugglers, dancing elephants, dogs and horses under the striped tents.

Other works from the Circus series can currently be seen at the retrospective exhibition Botero: Una Celebración at the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, on view  March – June 2012.