The only duty an artist has is in the quality of the art. There is no moral obligation to denounce. An artist confronted with a tremendous injustice sometimes feels inclined to say something. Denouncing the situation is the artist’s choice. Fernando Botero Read Quote
Bullfights are a very cultural thing. I know many people think it’s cruel, but so many things are cruel. Hunting, the electric chair, wars. These are all cruel things as well. Fernando Botero Read Quote
Nobody ever told me, ‘Art is this.’ This was good luck in a way because I would have had to spend half of my life forgetting everything that I had been told, which is what happens with most students in schools of fine arts. Fernando Botero Read Quote
An artist is attracted to certain kinds of form without knowing why. You adopt a position intuitively; only later do you attempt to rationalize or even justify it. Fernando Botero Read Quote
Sketching is almost everything. It is the painter’s identity, his style, his conviction, and then color is just a gift to the drawing. Fernando Botero Read Quote
There’s nothing more superficial to do than to paint a beautiful woman. The most beautiful portraits in art were of ugly women. If you paint Brigitte Bardot, it’s a disaster. Sunsets, you have to stay away from sunsets. You paint a sunset, you are in great danger. Fernando Botero Read Quote
In a photo, you just do a click, but in art you have to put in so much energy. This concentration of energy and attention says something that other media cannot say. Fernando Botero Read Quote
The circus allows one to be logical and unreal at the same time. In the circus, all is possible: there can be a man with two heads or a character with a green face. Fernando Botero Read Quote
