Lot Essay
This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist and dated 1999.
For my entire life, I've felt as if I had something to say in terms of sculpture. It's a very strong desire...pleasure—that of touching the new reality that you create. Certainly, in a painting you give the illusion of truth, but with sculpture, you can touch its reality . . . . If I paint a knife in my pictures, it's imaginary, but if I sculpt it, then the sensation of having it in your hand is real— it's an object from your spirit, it's a sensual experience even in its execution. It brings a special joy to touch the material with your hands.
—Fernando Botero 1
1 As quoted in E. J. Sullivan, Botero Sculpture, New York, Abbeyville Press, 1986, 13.
For my entire life, I've felt as if I had something to say in terms of sculpture. It's a very strong desire...pleasure—that of touching the new reality that you create. Certainly, in a painting you give the illusion of truth, but with sculpture, you can touch its reality . . . . If I paint a knife in my pictures, it's imaginary, but if I sculpt it, then the sensation of having it in your hand is real— it's an object from your spirit, it's a sensual experience even in its execution. It brings a special joy to touch the material with your hands.
—Fernando Botero 1
1 As quoted in E. J. Sullivan, Botero Sculpture, New York, Abbeyville Press, 1986, 13.