Botero's Plaster Sculptures on View in Spoleto

Fernando Botero, the Colombian artist known for his voluminous figures, is the subject of a solo exhibition at Palazzo Comunale in Spoleto, running until September 20. The show features 48 white plaster sculptures from the artist's private collection, depicting his signature themes: knights, centaurs, male and female figures, dancers, cats, horses, and bulls. In an interview with Alberto de Filippis, Botero discusses his lifelong interest in volume, citing Italian Trecento and Quattrocento painters like Giotto, Masaccio, Piero della Francesca, and Paolo Uccello as influences. He describes volume as a means to express sensuality and emotion. Botero also reflects on the death of his son Pedrito, commemorated in a melancholic painting, and his early career struggles when abstraction dominated. Now 83, Botero remains unapologetically populist, enjoying high market prices and institutional exhibitions despite criticism from the contemporary art mainstream.