Fernando Botero’s 8-foot ‘Sphinx’ sculpture has landed in the Meatpacking District
Photos courtesy of David Benrimon Fine Art
Concurrent with an exhibition of celebrated Colombian artist Fernando Botero’s work at David Benrimon Fine Art, Botero’s iconic “Sphinx” will be holding court in the Meatpacking District’s 14th Street Square until April 19. The exhibition and sculpture also mark the 90th birthday of Colombia’s most successful living artist. Botero’s familiar style interprets mythological and everyday subjects with exaggerated, voluptuous proportions and flat, bright colors. The latest Meatpacking addition features the iconic creature with a human head, a lion’s body and a falcon’s wings in classic zaftig Botero style; there’s no indication that it will be offering riddles.
“Sphinx” appears in partnership with the New York City Department of Transportation’s Art Program and David Benrimon Fine Art. The artist’s body of work spans over 70 years, and his sculptures have livened major city squares on every continent. “Sphinx” has been displayed in Berlin, Medellín, and The Hauge, Netherlands.
Botero was born in Medellín in 1932. He attended school for matadors before realizing his true passion was art. He lived in Spain and France before settling in Florence.
Botero’s work has been celebrated in retrospectives at the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC and the Beaux-Arts Mons in Belgium as well as residing in major museums including The Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, and the Museo Botero–the museum is dedicated to the artist–in Bogotá.
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Photos courtesy of David Benrimon Fine Art