Botero Fernando - Still life with bananas (1981)
Oil on canvas - Sig. "Botero 81" - With photo certificate by the artist (1998)
Provenance: Veranneman Foundation, Kruishoutem
Private collection Dimensions: 106,7 x 91,4 cm Artist Name: Fernando Botero (1932-2023) Colombia Literature: "Fernando Botero. Monograph & Catalogue Raisonné. Paintings 1975-1990" Edward J. Sullivan & Jean-Marie Tasset, Acatos Publ., Lausanne 2000, p. 310, nr. 1981/3 ill.
"Veranneman. Visie en passie" Uitgeverij Lannoo, Tielt 2002, p. 286 ill. with the work hanging in the Stichting Veranneman in Kruishoutem Notes: STILL LIFES WITH PERSONALITY
“When I paint an apple or an orange, I know that people will be able to recognize that it is mine and it was me who painted it, because what I try to do is give each element I paint, down to the simplest ones, a personality that comes from a deep conviction.”
Colombian artist Fernando Botero employs a unique, instantly recognizable style. We are surprised by his voluptuous, blown-up subjects. Botero gives the simple explanation that he loves full shapes, and that this exaggeration stems from a purely stylistic pursuit of beauty. In his search, he is drown to volumes exuding sensuality thanks to their curves and rich colors.
“I started painting when I was very young. I did my first still lifes when I was 15. Artists today are no longer interested in this theme. It is a pity because this genre has such a great tradition of masterpieces. My works are not painted in the style of the great masters. They are in my own style using the same objects and fruits that were used by the masters. Art is doing the same thing but in a different way."
Botero aims for a specific aesthetic elegance. His primary source of inspiration is the Italian Trecento and Quattrocento. He is fascinated by the colors, shapes and characters of Renaissance artists such as Giotto and Piero della Francesca. In addition, Mexican muralism, with its monumental dimensions and socially critical comments, has given rise to exaggerated proportions.
“Still life with bananas” (1981) is painted in the typical Boterian style with round, heavy shapes and large, velvety color areas. The frontality of the arrangement is softened by a few subtle diagonal lines. The drama increases thanks to the claustrophobic framing, sided by a draped curtain. The still life is put on a stage, where the banana plays a starring role.
Finishing the scene with drapery imitates the iconography of classical portrait painting, in which high-ranking figures are shown at their best, including magnification of their most commendable features. Botero exchanges nobility and clergy for a piece of fruit. The banana is presented to us in all its glory: behold its subtle curvature, its ripe flesh, the fruit of Colombia.
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Oil on canvas - Sig. "Botero 81" - With photo certificate by the artist (1998)
Provenance: Veranneman Foundation, Kruishoutem
Private collection Dimensions: 106,7 x 91,4 cm Artist Name: Fernando Botero (1932-2023) Colombia Literature: "Fernando Botero. Monograph & Catalogue Raisonné. Paintings 1975-1990" Edward J. Sullivan & Jean-Marie Tasset, Acatos Publ., Lausanne 2000, p. 310, nr. 1981/3 ill.
"Veranneman. Visie en passie" Uitgeverij Lannoo, Tielt 2002, p. 286 ill. with the work hanging in the Stichting Veranneman in Kruishoutem Notes: STILL LIFES WITH PERSONALITY
“When I paint an apple or an orange, I know that people will be able to recognize that it is mine and it was me who painted it, because what I try to do is give each element I paint, down to the simplest ones, a personality that comes from a deep conviction.”
Colombian artist Fernando Botero employs a unique, instantly recognizable style. We are surprised by his voluptuous, blown-up subjects. Botero gives the simple explanation that he loves full shapes, and that this exaggeration stems from a purely stylistic pursuit of beauty. In his search, he is drown to volumes exuding sensuality thanks to their curves and rich colors.
“I started painting when I was very young. I did my first still lifes when I was 15. Artists today are no longer interested in this theme. It is a pity because this genre has such a great tradition of masterpieces. My works are not painted in the style of the great masters. They are in my own style using the same objects and fruits that were used by the masters. Art is doing the same thing but in a different way."
Botero aims for a specific aesthetic elegance. His primary source of inspiration is the Italian Trecento and Quattrocento. He is fascinated by the colors, shapes and characters of Renaissance artists such as Giotto and Piero della Francesca. In addition, Mexican muralism, with its monumental dimensions and socially critical comments, has given rise to exaggerated proportions.
“Still life with bananas” (1981) is painted in the typical Boterian style with round, heavy shapes and large, velvety color areas. The frontality of the arrangement is softened by a few subtle diagonal lines. The drama increases thanks to the claustrophobic framing, sided by a draped curtain. The still life is put on a stage, where the banana plays a starring role.
Finishing the scene with drapery imitates the iconography of classical portrait painting, in which high-ranking figures are shown at their best, including magnification of their most commendable features. Botero exchanges nobility and clergy for a piece of fruit. The banana is presented to us in all its glory: behold its subtle curvature, its ripe flesh, the fruit of Colombia.
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