Fernando Botero's sculptural work is not recent, as one might perhaps think. It emerged in the seventies as an expansion, as a direct consequence of the strong sense of volume given to his figures, which by those years was already the unmistakable characteristic of his style.Those characters and atmospheres of his paintings, like the early small-format sculptures, were creating a formidable particular universe, a “boterian” universe, which, as we are told somewhere in this book, constitutes a utopian world, but not in the sense of ideal, rather a separate place where the possible and the real transform into excessive characters, unusual scenes, fantastic landscapes.This mixture, in which the figurative real meets the fantastic, visible and tangible, is what gives Botero's work that peculiar charm, that allusive beauty of gesture, that endearing sense of humor that suddenly emerges in his sculpture with unknown vigor.Already in a 1986 book, with the deserved display, his small-format three-dimensional work had been made known. Later, with Botero's consecration as a sculptor after his 1992 exhibition in Paris, the world was able to see a broader production, of monumental character, which in its itinerant journey through the main cities of the world –Paris, New York, Chicago, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Monte Carlo, Washington, Santiago, Lugano, Lisbon, São Paulo, Frankfurt– has earned the artist universal recognition as the sculptor of the end of the century, without a doubt.This book gathers in its pages the long and fruitful sculptural career of Fernando Botero, from the small and medium format works, which rest in private collections and important museums around the world, to the masterful testimony offered by his monumental traveling exhibitions, becoming an invaluable document for collective memory and a unique aesthetic experience for readers as they go through each of its pages.Fernando Botero, the Colombian painter recognized worldwide as one of the great artists emerging in the second half of the 20th century, was born in Medellín on April 19, 1932. At 16 he exhibited his paintings to the public for the first time and at 19 he moved to Bogotá. In 1952 he traveled to Madrid, Spain, where he enrolled at the Academy of San Fernando and worked intensively at the Prado Museum. The following year he dedicated himself to traveling through Italy and studying Renaissance works in Florence. In 1955 Botero returned to Bogotá, where he stayed for five years. He then settled in New York until 1973, when he moved to Paris and began working in sculpture. In 1983 he established his residence and studio in Pietrasanta, Tuscany, Italy.Both Botero's pictorial and sculptural work, particularly his monumental works, have traveled the world, awakening admiration and enthusiasm in those who come into contact with them.Currently Botero divides his activity and work between Paris, New York, and Pietrasanta.Jean-Clarence Lambert has played a leading role in international artistic life since the 1950s as a critic, theorist, and exhibition organizer. He has published numerous books, translated into several languages, and his poetic work is illustrated by the most famous contemporary artists. ARTCURIAL, in Paris, and the COBRA Museum of Amstelveen-Amsterdam have dedicated several retrospective exhibitions to him. Recent publications: Cobra, un art libre; Le règne imaginal; Le jardin le labyrinthe; Constant, New Babylon; Trillali-Trillala; L’anti-légende du siècle.