Fernando Botero (b. 1932)

Aberbach Fine Art, New York
The Collection of Paul and Lisa Newman, New York
Gary Nader Fine Art, Coral Gables
Private Collection, New York

Washington, D.C., Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Instituition, December 20, 1979-February 10, 1980; Corpus Christi, Art Museum of South Texas, March 27-May 10, 1980, Fernando Botero, pl. 6, p. 48, illustrated in color; also illustrated in color on back cover
Indianapolis, Indianapolis Museum of Art, June 28-September 13, 1987; Flushing, The Queens Museum, October 10-December 6, 1987; Miami, Center for the Fine Arts, January 15-March 4, 1988; Mexico City, Centro Cultural/Arte Contemporáneo, March 25-May 22, 1988; Art of the Fantastic, Latin America, 1920-1987, p. 245, illustrated in color

Tracy Atkinson, Galerie Buchholz, et. al., Botero, Munich, 1970, p. 38, illustrated
Germán Arciniegas, Fernando Botero, New York, 1977, pl. 34, illustrated
Giorgio Soavi, Fernando Botero, Milan, 1988, no. 10, p. 38, illustrated in color
Mariana Hanstein, et. al., Fernando Botero, Cologne, 2003, p. 31, illustrated
Paola Gribaudo and Carlos Fuentos, Botero: Women, New York, 2003, p. 42 illustrated in color

This painting is in beautiful condition. It is unlined, clean, and very softly varnished if at all. It seems that there are only retouches around the extreme edges, which enable the painting to be shown in its current frame. No restoration is required, and the condition of the work is clearly wonderful. (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.

In Nuestra Señora de Nueva York (Our Lady of New York), Fernando Botero delved into art history to find a pictorial convention and re-invent it. The composition of a saint or Virgin Mary with a supplicant or donor at their feet has been very common in the Western tradition of devotional paintings since early Christian times. The iconography is often similar—a large figure of a saint with a small figure at their feet or at the corners of the painting. These paintings memorialized the devotion of supplicants who were either asking for a miracle or had received one. Moving to the Twentieth Century,  Botero has taken this tradition and created a modern Virgin that until he painted this work, did not exist—a Virgin for New York City. After having lived and worked in Europe, Mexico and Colombia Botero settled in New York in 1960. He quickly rose to prominence when the Museum of Modern Art purchased his painting Mona Lisa age 12 in 1961. Perhaps after living in New York for a few years Botero yearned for his time in Europe and Latin America? Or perhaps Botero created Our Lady of New York to thank her for his success as a painter, as so many painters before him had done.