A benefit of membership with the New Orleans Museum of Art
ARTSQUARTERLY VOLUME XXX ISSUE 3
Play of Volumes: The Sculptural Masterpieces of Fernando Botero BY MIRANDA LASH Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, NOMA
NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART
JULY/AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2008
T
he term “baroque” derives from the noun “barroco,” the Portuguese word for a misshapen pearl. Although the baroque may describe anything from the time period ranging from the sixteenth to the seventeenth century, to a style of music and art associated with the Counter-Reformation, the idea centers upon excess and eccentricity. The German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz once described the baroque as a style of endless folds, an art that appealed to the body and the senses. Looking at the elaborate drapery and ecstatic poses found in the Italian sculpture of Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), we get an idea of what Leibniz meant. The idea of the baroque becomes even more complex as one approaches the realm of Latin America. In the New World, the “baroque” carries the added dimension of being the style associated with European colonization and miscegenation. The baroque is a hybrid art in Latin America. Its sculpture, painting, and architecture combine traditions from Catholic Europeans (Spanish, Portuguese, and French), American indigenous peoples, African slaves, and Dutch and Japanese traders. Growing up in the small town of Medellín, Colombia, the artist Fernando Botero’s first encounter with the baroque occurred very naturally. Baroque art could be found in all the surrounding churches and public buildings. Though Botero (born in 1932) would later spend most of his life abroad, he retained a profound admiration for the baroque that would be manifested in his own artistic style.
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Fernando Botero (Colombian, born 1932) Rape of Europa, 1999 Bronze, 81-1/2 x 71-3/4 x 122 inches Private Collection