Fernando Botero

The figures in Botero’s paintings look as if you could shove them down a cliff to roll down the rocky surfaces, and see them still walk on with the bones unbroken. But why in the world does Botero paint such puffed-up figures, with no clear distinction between the face and the neck? When the artist saw frescos by renaissance painter Piero della Francesca, Botero was captivated by their voluptuous figures and forms. The world in which fat equals beauty starts Jul 11 through Oct 4.