Beschreibung:

FERNANDO BOTERO (B. 1932)La Primera Dama 1967 signed and dated 67; signed, titled and dated 67 on the reverse oil on canvas 72 by 65 in. 183 by 165 cm. FootnotesProvenance Collection of Manuel Checa Solari, Peru (acquired from the artist in 1967) Galeria Sur, Uruguay Private Collection, Turkey (acquired from the above in 2012) Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 2018 Exuding a powerful authority and striking in both composition and scale, La Primera Dama (1967) is an outstanding and iconic work by one of the most important Latin American artists of our day. Incorporating Fernando Botero's unique voluptuous signature style, the present work is a magnificently robust and distinctively Colombian painting, rendering it a highly personal and superlative portrait in the artist's unmistakable hand. Originating from a prominent passage of Botero's early practice, the present work engages deeply with his art historical academic training in Western Classicism and his enduring fascination for exaggerated elements. Botero's paintings are as technically astute, as they are iconic, and his legacy as one of the principal artists of the last three decades is without question. The present work is a sumptuous portrait of the First Lady of Colombia and is an early and fascinating example of Botero's depictions of the upper echelons of South American society. Executed in 1967, La Primera Dama combines quintessential qualities of Fernando Botero's portraits such as the theme of the bourgeoisie and the ruling elite with the exploration of Colombian identity. Painted during a seminal period of European travel for Botero, the influence of Italy's Renaissance frescoes, Spain's Golden Age masters, and France's turn-of-the-century School of Paris, can be plainly seen in the present work. Having studied under Roberto Longhi, a renowned authority on Italian Renaissance and Baroque art, Botero obtained a remarkable art historical knowledge of Western Classicism. Deeply influenced by these masterworks, Botero embarked on a quest to critically re-interpret iconic paintings: to pay homage to the great artists of the past; and in doing so, to find a gateway to true originality. Viewed through the lens of art history, the present work draws certain inspirations, such as motifs, composition, and background settings, from archetypal masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance such as Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa (1503). The smooth, sfumato-like blending around the sitter's features elicit awe from the viewer and draw the audience into her dark brown eyes and delicately smiling lips. Characteristic of many of Botero's portraits of women, La Primera Dama is a dominant matriarch; we the audience are merely basking in her voluptuous glory. Holding her small dog in her arms, on first look her body language echoes that of a Renaissance Virgin Mary, nurturing and protecting the people of Colombia. Motifs drawn from the Old Masters, are interspersed with Colombian mid-century fashions and South American landscapes, unsurprising from an artist who described himself and 'the most Colombian of Colombian artists' (the artist in: Werner Spies, 'A Conversation with Fernando Botero' in Botero: Paintings and Drawings, Munich 2007, p. 154). The First Lady clutches a faithful lap dog to her bosom and wears a brown mink fur coat. She is adorned with a resplendent string of pearls and a pair of Colombian emerald earrings, the grandiosity of her attire adding yet more volume to her figure. Despite the patriotic theme of the present work, the thin flashes of yellow, red and blue of the flag seem microscopic, and are eclipsed by the eponymous figurehead and protagonist of this scene. Botero sees beauty in all the vagaries of the human body and humour, as well as in its fleshy flamboyance and self-importance. The small grey dog is emblematic of styles of regal and aristocratic portraits from the canon of Western art history, particularly in its use of canine pets as sy