Fernando Botero Bronze Sculptures, Rufino Tamayo’s Sandías Featured in Christie’s Latin American Art Auction

Rufino Tamayo’s paintings have broken records for Latin American art at auction for many years. Although the Mexican artist was a contemporary of Pablo Picasso and Diego Rivera, he distanced himself from politics. Tamayo, however, did not shy away from using vivid colors when painting Mexican iconography and everyday life. This spring, Christie’s will showcase Sandías (Watermelons) by Rufino Tamayo in the upcoming Latin American Art auction. It is a graphite and colored pencil on paper completed in 1986. The artist uses green, red, and white— the colors of the Mexican flag— to create several slices of watermelon. Another painting of watermelons by Tamayo was Audrey Hepburn’s favorite and even inspired the décor for the room in which the painting remained until Hepburn passed away.

Frente a la catedral, an oil on canvas by Fernando Botero, is a featured lot in the auction. It is signed and dated ‘Botero 94’ in the lower right. The oil painting shows a family of four standing in front of a cathedral, wearing their Sunday best. Of particular note in this painting is the portrayal of the subjects as giants. They are almost as big as the cathedral. Botero was only 19 years old when he left Colombia for Madrid in 1952, but he never failed to include Columbian themes in his works. The upcoming live auction also features exceptional paintings, sculptures, and drawings from Eugenio Landesio, Diego Rivera, masterworks by Wifredo Lam, Claudio Bravo, Jesús Rafael Soto, Tomie Ohtake, Olga de Amaral, Antonio Bandeira, and a monumental bronze by Fernando Botero. Find the listed items and more on Christie’s and register to place a bid.