WATERCOLOURS

Botero approached watercolours through the depiction of a great passion of his: bullfighting. The technique was very popular in Colombia, and the artist never ceased employing it in his work: the final series, produced in 2019, was in fact a collection of watercolours. On that occasion, the essential difference was that he did all his works in large format and on canvas (rather than on paper, as was his habit). Treated like full-blown frescoes, with a firm, decisive line and a wondrously subtle palette, these watercolours yield a sublimely refined result. The series deals with all the themes that had captured Botero’s interest during his life, emphasizing his prodigious management of volumes; not only does this represent a reinvention of the watercolour technique, but it provides a marvellous summary of his entire career.