Botero already developed his own unmistakeable style in the 1950s, beginning with the drawing of a mandoline, into which he drew a proportionally very small sound hole. Since then the term volume - of objects and of human or animal figures - has become synonymous for his work.
Volume is the decisive term, for Botero's figures are not fat, but voluminous. The artist often creates his works with tongue-in-cheek, he never makes fun of his figures, quite the contrary, his oeuvre expresses a deep understanding of human weakness. His work is influenced by South American colonial art just as much as by the major artists of European art history, which he closely studied during his travels. Botero's sculptures are the logical continuation of his paintings, it seems as if the figures have stepped down from the paintings. Even the small sculptures have an inherent monumentality, a strong presence that cannot be ignored.
