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Lot 207 |PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT COLLECTION
FERNANDO BOTERO (B. 1932)
Horse
Closed1 December 2022
Price Realised
HKD 2,646,000
More Information
FERNANDO BOTERO (B. 1932)
Horse
inscribed with foundry mark 'FOND. ART. BROTAL MENDRISIO' (left hind hoof)
bronze
Height: 82.3 cm (32 3/8 in.)
Width: 48.9 cm (19 1/4 in.)
Depth: 74.9 cm (29 1/2 in.)
Executed in 1981
Edition of six
Horse
inscribed with foundry mark 'FOND. ART. BROTAL MENDRISIO' (left hind hoof)
bronze
Height: 82.3 cm (32 3/8 in.)
Width: 48.9 cm (19 1/4 in.)
Depth: 74.9 cm (29 1/2 in.)
Executed in 1981
Edition of six
FERNANDO BOTERO (B. 1932)
Horse
inscribed with foundry mark 'FOND. ART. BROTAL MENDRISIO' (left hind hoof)
bronze
Height: 82.3 cm (32 3/8 in.)
Width: 48.9 cm (19 1/4 in.)
Depth: 74.9 cm (29 1/2 in.)
Executed in 1981
Edition of six
Horse
inscribed with foundry mark 'FOND. ART. BROTAL MENDRISIO' (left hind hoof)
bronze
Height: 82.3 cm (32 3/8 in.)
Width: 48.9 cm (19 1/4 in.)
Depth: 74.9 cm (29 1/2 in.)
Executed in 1981
Edition of six
Marlborough Gallery, New York (1988)
Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art (1988)
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art (1988)
Acquired from the above by the present owner
N. Grubb, Botero Sculpture, New York, 1986, p. 32 (plaster illustrated)
B. Villegas, Botero Sculpture, Bogota, 1998, no. 60 (another cast illustrated)
B. Villegas, Botero Sculpture, Bogota, 1998, no. 60 (another cast illustrated)
It was not until 1973, when he moved to Paris and was financially more secure, that Botero turned to sculpture. In the early 1980s he acquired two houses in Pietrasanta, from here he has a view of Europe’s most famous marble quarries. He then dedicated his summers to sculpture, long working from the studio in Pietrasanta, this small town on the Tuscan coast that has drawn artist-residents from Michelangelo to Isamu Noguchi and Henry Moore. ‘It provides the ideal conditions for sculpting,’Botero explains. “Centuries of art are breathing there.”
Bronze is his favourite material for sculptures. By no means is this just a sideline to his paintings, but rather the natural extension of the latter where the essence of his artistic ideas is concerned: namely the sensuous quality of the forms, technical perfection, and classical themes. Perfect craftsmanship is no less important for Botero’s sculptural oeuvre than for his painting. In the Versiliese, Tesconi, Mariani and Tomassi foundries he has discovered the skilled workers who are so vital to the manufacturing of the sculptures. Henry Moore, who likewise demanded an immaculately smooth surface to bronze, a surface that invited stroking, also had his works cast here.
Forged as early as 1981, Horse was elegantly distilled to essences of shape and volume. Cast in bronze in the prestigious foundry, it wonderfully exemplifies the unique aesthetic developed as a result of Botero’s pursuit of beauty through form and volume. In the following three decades, Botero has exhibited his sculptures in iconic public spaces around the world, among them the Champs-Élysées in Paris and New York’s Park Avenue and the ‘theme’ of horse has become one of his most important themes.
Bronze is his favourite material for sculptures. By no means is this just a sideline to his paintings, but rather the natural extension of the latter where the essence of his artistic ideas is concerned: namely the sensuous quality of the forms, technical perfection, and classical themes. Perfect craftsmanship is no less important for Botero’s sculptural oeuvre than for his painting. In the Versiliese, Tesconi, Mariani and Tomassi foundries he has discovered the skilled workers who are so vital to the manufacturing of the sculptures. Henry Moore, who likewise demanded an immaculately smooth surface to bronze, a surface that invited stroking, also had his works cast here.
Forged as early as 1981, Horse was elegantly distilled to essences of shape and volume. Cast in bronze in the prestigious foundry, it wonderfully exemplifies the unique aesthetic developed as a result of Botero’s pursuit of beauty through form and volume. In the following three decades, Botero has exhibited his sculptures in iconic public spaces around the world, among them the Champs-Élysées in Paris and New York’s Park Avenue and the ‘theme’ of horse has become one of his most important themes.