The connection between Fernando Botero and the American metropolis is revealed to be much deeper than what his famous monumental sculptures, which remain in the collective imagination, might suggest. A new exhibition now shines a spotlight on how the formative years spent by the artist in this city decisively shaped the birth of the Botero style, his unmistakable visual language.
What legacy unites the Colombian master to New York?
The exhibition titled "Botero in New York" represents the first monographic show that the renowned auction house Sotheby’s dedicates to a single artist at its Breuer location. Organized in close synergy with the Botero family, the exhibition presents over 20 works including paintings and sculptures rarely shown to the public, coming directly from the artist’s archive and prestigious private collections.
Many of these works are being exhibited in the metropolis for the first time, and some are available for private sale. The exhibition path analyzes the genesis of "Boterismo," the Botero style based on volumetric forms that express strength and sensuality. Presenting this project in the Big Apple takes on special significance, as the artist arrived there at a time when abstraction dominated the artistic debate.
Moreover, the master’s response was not a simple rejection of that world. On the contrary, he chose to develop an alternative path to modernity through figuration, monumental scale, surface texture, and the reinterpretation of historical art sources.
The formative season in Greenwich Village
The painter and sculptor arrived in the United States at the end of the ’50s, after having already lived significant experiences in Europe. Departing from Medellín, he supported himself in Madrid by studying at the Academia de San Fernando, then visited the Louvre in Paris and studied the Renaissance masters in Florence, selling reproductions of Diego Velázquez and Francisco Goya on the street.
Settled in Greenwich Village, a neighborhood at the time frequented by Beat Generation poets and abstract painters, in 1961 the artist fortuitously met Dorothy Miller, a historic curator of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Miller was impressed by his talent and purchased the work Mona Lisa, Age Twelve (1959), an acquisition that opened the doors of the international market to the painter.
That said, during that period his circle of contacts expanded to figures such as the gallerist Claude Bernard, art dealer Ernst Beyeler, and Pierre Levai of the Marlborough Gallery. Masterpieces from these years include Pope Leo X (After Raphael) (1964) and The Presidential Family (1967), characterized by generous volumes and flat colors imbued with subtle social critique.
Despite the overwhelming success of Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art, the master remained faithful to figuration. Although this choice made him a target of the conservative criticism of the time, his first exhibition at Marlborough in 1972 was a sell-out.
Between innovation and record sales
The artist’s market has shown extraordinary international vitality, especially after his passing in 2023. In 2024, the auction sales of his works reached a record total of 53.8 million dollars. In the same year, at Christie’s, a record was set for a single painting with the sale of The Musicians (1979) for 5.1 million dollars.
The exhibition at Sotheby’s allows visitors to admire key works such as Mona Lisa, Age Thirteen (1959) and Apotheosis of Ramón Hoyos (1959), a rare example of dialogue with abstraction. It also includes reinterpretations of great classics, such as Sunflowers (1977), a clear homage to Vincent van Gogh, and Still Life with Watermelon (1965).
Furthermore, the event marks the public debut of the painting Picnic (1973), a refined citation of Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (1863) by Édouard Manet, offering a complex reflection on the division into social classes.
Overall, this body of work demonstrates that the Botero style did not emerge suddenly but was the result of constant and rigorous visual research. The exhibition remains open to the public from July 22 to September 7 at Sotheby’s location at 945 Madison Avenue.
As expert in digital marketing, Amelia began working in the fintech sector in 2014 after writing her thesis on Bitcoin technology. Previously author for several international crypto-related magazines and CMO at Eidoo. She is now the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Cryptonomist and Econique.
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