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The first work sold by Botero returns to the scene in a historic auction in Bogotá
The early history of Fernando Botero comes alive again in Bogotá with the auction of "La Plegaria " (1949), considered the first work the Antioquian master sold in his artistic career. The watercolor on paper, created when the painter was just beginning his artistic journey, will be offered on May 21 by Bogotá Auctions as part of a collection that brings together more than 120 pieces of modern and contemporary art from Colombia and Latin America.
The work has a unique historical value not only because of its age, but also because of the anecdote that marked its first transaction: Botero exchanged it for two packs of cigarettes with Efrén Ossa, later recognized as a pioneer of insurance law in Colombia.
The painting "The Prayer" depicts a group of peasants immersed in an atmosphere of anguish and contemplation. An old man prays with his eyes closed, while behind him a woman embraces a child and gazes fearfully toward the sky. The piece was painted just a year after the assassination of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, an event that triggered a profound social and political crisis in the country and permeated the emotional atmosphere of the time.
The auction will also include Girl with Flowers (1960), an oil on canvas belonging to Botero's so-called "neo-figurative period," a stage in which the artist began to consolidate the visual language that would later make him world-renowned: human figures and still lifes of amplified volumes and exuberant proportions.
In addition to Botero's pieces, the event will bring together works by prominent names in Colombian and Latin American art such as Alejandro Obregón, Débora Arango, Beatriz González, Darío Morales and Ana Mercedes Hoyos, consolidating the auction as one of the most important cultural events of the season in the Colombian capital.
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