"Sleeping Woman", 1999

Botero's distinctive style of smooth inflated shapes is today instantly recognizable. It reflects the artist's constant search to give volume presence and reality. Appropriating themes from all of art history, from the Middle Ages to the Italian quattrocento, from Latin American colonial art to the modern trends of the 20th century, Botero transforms them to his own particular style. His sculptures are the logical continuation of his painting. It is as if the familiar figures from the paintings have left the canvas to present themselves to us in the flesh. The viewer has to resist the urge to touch the buxom ladies, or pat the horse's backside. Even the small sculptures have something inherently monumental, a strong presence that cannot be ignored.