Self-Portrait Fernando Botero

This self-portrait by the Columbian painter reveals the innermost, pivotal stratum of his artistic being. He pictures himself at his easel, dressed in the flamboyant costume of a toreador, but rather than a raging bull he stares intently at the canvas, holding a brush instead of decorative spears. In terms of its composition, the painting evokes the 1785 self-portrait by Botero’s illustrious predecessor, Francisco de Goya, who was likewise a bullfighting aficionado. Bulls were the subject of Botero’s first drawing, produced at the age of 16: he was fascinated by the monumental nature of the bullfight. It was a world of power and masculinity, which, in his case, filled symbolically the void left by the tragically early death of his father. He enrolled as an apprentice bullfighter, although his resolution quickly wavered once he came face to face with a live bull in the Medellín bullring. This encounter convinced him once and for all to devote himself to his other passion – art. From 1983, he produced many paintings and sculptures inspired by the world of bullfighting and bullfighters.

Adriána Lantos