Fernando Botero(b. 1932)

Collection of the artist 
Acquired from the above 

Florence, Piazza della Signoria, Botero a Piazza Signoria, June 23-September 10, 2000, p. 128-129, illustrated in color
New York, Marlborough Gallery, Botero: Monumental Sculpture, May 10-June 16, 2001, p. 6-7, illustrated in color
Venice, Palazzo Duccale, Botero a Venezia: Sculture e dipinti, April 12-July 12, 2003, p. 106-107, illustrated in color
Tokyo, Yebisu Garden Place, Botero at Ebisu, March 31-July 11, 2004, p. 72-73, no. 16, illustrated in color
Singapore, Esplanade Theatres on the Bay, Botero in Singapore, December 8, 2004-February 27, 2005 

Ana Maria Escallón, "The Genesis of Fernando Botero's Sculptures," Sculpture Review, Fall 2001, no. 24, illustrated 

This work is in very good condition overall. Isolated areas of light abrasion measuring no more than eight inches in length are present in the following areas: the left foot and thigh of the man, the right chest, neck and front leg of the horse, the right ankle, buttock, and upper thigh of the man. However, none of these areas of abrasion compromise the integrity of the work. This work will be waxed and the patina restored after the sale.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

"We must keep in mind that the equestrian image has been used since antiquity to signify nobility and courage. The equestrian statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius on the Capitoline Hill in Rome is the earliest surviving example of this genre. It represents one of the many ways that ancient sculptures depicted the majesty and glory of the emperor. The pose was taken up in the Middle Ages and with even greater enthusiasm in the Renaissance, when it was used by such artists as Verrocchio and Donatello. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, sculptors such as Bernini, François Girardon, and Etienne Maurice Falconet employed this sort of image with great success... Botero...has the greatest reverence for horses, as we have seen: his father rode a horse through the hills of Antioquia; Pedro [the artist's son] rides a hobby horse in the representations of him, both painted and sculpted. Botero's use of the figure of the horse is something akin to Cervantes' use of the nag Rocinante in Don Quixote. Downtrodden and worn out, the horse is the constant companion of man in his journeys and travails. In reading Cervantes' great novel, we increasingly feel the author's affection for the horse. Botero's equally affectionate evocations of all his various animals remind us that he thinks of these creatures as integral to his own personal universe." 
-Edward J. Sullivan, Botero Sculpture, New York, 1986, p. 80-82, 135-137