Fernando Botero: 50 Anos de Vida Artistica = Fernando Botero

The Colombian painter Fernando Botero once said, ""In art, as long as you have ideas and think, you are bound to deform nature. Art is deformation."" Much of the same can be said for the visceral work of the legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-54), who hardly needs an introduction, as her place as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century is assured. In these oversized art books, two of Latin America's most highly regarded artists are celebrated through short biography and exquisite reproductions of their work. Botero was born in Medellin in 1932 and is known for his trademark renditions of marvelously corpulent characters in painting and sculpture. In 1969 the Inflated Images exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York established him as one of the masters of the 20th century. Though the rotund images are satirical and quite humorous, Botero's subjects act as political and social commentary, condemning militarists and the morals and manners of Colombia's bourgeoisie. The first third of the book provides biographical information, replete with b&w photos of the painter as a child, of his family, and of Botero surrounded by the creme de la creme of the art world. The opening texts are written by well-known Colombian authors who, like Botero, made Mexico their home because of its thriving art and literary scene, such as Alvaro Mutis and Eduardo Garcia Aguilar. The rest of the book contains full-color reproductions of many of the master's important works from 1959 to 2000, with a handy list of works on the last pages.