Beijing – ‘Botero in China’ is pleased to announce an exhibition of works by world-renowned Colombian artist Fernando Botero at the National Museum of China in Beijing. The exhibition will be Maestro Botero’s first official exhibition in mainland China and will be comprised entirely of works from the artist’s personal collection and contain almost 100 of his favourite paintings and drawings spanning a period from the 1970s to today.
As the initial encounter of the world’s most important contemporary figurative artist, one who is deeply rooted in the western pictorial tradition, with the principal nation of the East, with its own rich artistic tradition, this event is of global significance. Celebrated around the world for his unique style expressed through the consistent and coherent exploration of volume and colour, Maestro Botero’s depictions of local scenes from his childhood in Colombia and Latin America have achieved a rare universality.
This event, which launches on 20th November 2015 and will continue until 2nd January 2016, is hosted by the Ministry of Culture of China and the Embassy of Colombia in China. The Exhibition will be presented by China Arts and Entertainment Group (CAEG) and supported by Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) and Klein Sun Foundation.
With an increasingly sophisticated audience, China is quickly becoming the world’s most important art market. As such, it is an ideal location for Maestro Botero to present his life’s work. On show will be 81 large format oil paintings and 15 large format drawings on canvas covering a prolific career that has lasted more than 50 years and continues today.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for me to share my work directly with the people of China,” said Fernando Botero. “China has a deep and impressive cultural history and I have great admiration for all they have achieved in painting and sculpture so it is a privilege to come to China to show my work. To be one of the first international living artists to be invited to a solo exhibition in the National Museum of China in Beijing is a tremendous distinction and I am both honoured and delighted. I very
much hope that the public in China will appreciate my art.”
Deputy Director Chen Lv Sheng of the National Museum of China stated “We are delighted to be able to welcome Maestro Botero to mainland China for the first time and to introduce one of the world’s most important living artists to the people of China. His unique style and universal language of sensual form will enrich the halls of our great museum and is a wonderful addition to our ongoing mission of the promotion of cultural learning.”
The exhibition will be a ‘Retrospective’ that will enable the Chinese public to get acquainted with the themes that have interested the artist throughout his career and that have made his pictorial universe an important reference for the whole world. These themes will be Everyday Life in Latin America, Still Life, The Bullfight, The Circus and Versions: Evoking Tradition, his versions of masterpieces by grand masters. In addition, there will be a sixth gallery with a selection of some of his finest larger drawings, a fundamental discipline of his art, where the mastery of Maestro Botero is clearly visible.
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