Fernando Botero

Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris
Galerie Brusberg, Hannover 
Private Collection, Hannover 
Galerie Brusberg, Berlin (acquired from the above in 1998) 
Private Collection, Berlin
James Goodman Gallery (acquired from the above in 2008)
Galería La Cometa, Bogotá (acquired from the above in 2012) 
Private Collection, Caracas (acquired from the above in 2012) 

Paris, Galerie Claude Bernard, Botero Aquarelles et Dessins, March 1976, no. 39, illustrated 
Schwäbisch Hall, Kunsthalle Wurth, Fernando Botero, November 2005 - April 2006, p. 70 

Giorgio Soavi, Fernando Botero, Milan 1988, cat. no. 135, p. 163, illustrated 
William Galender and Mario Vargas Llosa, Botero: dibujos y acuarelas, Paris 1985, p. 82 

This work is in very good condition. The surface is healthy and undamaged. There are no restorations to the charcoal layer, which is stable. A slight wave is present in the canvas in the upper left corner due to the current stretcher, though it is not really noticeable. The picture can be hung in its current state.
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.
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Fernando Botero’s still life paintings are the body of works most rooted in the artistic tradition of the genre. The robust and sensually-shaped fruits and objects that populate his fantastic scenes of everyday moments are based on the Old Master paintings he eagerly studied firsthand as a young art student in Europe during the 1950s. His encounters with the masterworks of Giotto, Michelangelo and Piero della Francesca in Italy and with the paintings of Sanchez-Cotán and Velázquez in Spain, among many others, informed his own reinterpretations in his works from the beginning stages of his oeuvre  that are then revisited throughout his career. When asked in an interview “what is your relationship to art history?” Botero’s response was confident and simple: “A great one. Sometimes I do versions of the masterpieces just to learn” (Germán Arciniegas, Fernando Botero, New York 1977, p. 52). Color palette, brushstroke, light, compositional arrangement, the volume of forms, Botero studied and experimented with this technical “vocabulary” of the masters while formulating his own artistic style. By the 1970s the identifiable, signature “Botero” aesthetic had fully matured: whimsical, joyful and humorous views of everyday Colombia that maintained visual fragments of art history. The present work, Naturaleza muerta con cafeteria y frutero (1973), is a key example of Botero’s masterful ability of paying homage to the centuries-long tradition of still life painting while reflecting “the colossal, comic, critical, candid and documentary traits as the rest of his work” (Edward J. Sullivan and Jean-Marie Tasset, Fernando Botero, Monograph & Catalogue Raisonné, Paintings 1975-1990, New York 2000, p. 28). Here he approaches the depiction of a bowl of fruit and a coffee pot in the same sensual and observational manner as he approaches his other (human) subjects: each object has its own particular individuality; and the humble, everyday nature of these simple objects are presented with a spirit of exaltation and celebration. More importantly, this work represents a critical moment in his body of work when Botero abandons color completely, and shifts to the monochromatic tones of charcoal and sanguine, of which those executed on canvas are not only the largest but also the most well-known. “These drawings executed on canvas have a character not unlike certain early Renaissance paintings executed with light washes of oil paint on linen [;] Botero is able to evoke a sensuous velvety texture in these works that lends them a special appeal”  (ibid, p. 10).



This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.