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 BoteroRead
You paint what you know best; what you went through as a teenager and child. My world is the one I got to know in Medellin; I never paint anything else other than that.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that an artist's work is deeply influenced by their personal experiences and background.
Fernando Botero expresses that the essence of art comes from one's own life experiences, particularly those formative years in childhood and adolescence. He highlights that his depiction of the world is rooted in his upbringing in Medellin, and he feels compelled to create art that reflects his unique perspective and lived experiences, suggesting that personal history is the foundation of creativity.
Themes
ArtCreativityPersonal ExperienceIdentityIndividuality
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of personal experiences in artistic expression.
More from Fernando Botero
All quotes →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 BoteroRead
I love my country, and it hurts not to be able to see my country, as I did for so many years. I hope that I will one day be able to live in a peaceful Colombia.
Fernando BoteroRead
An artist is born like a priest is born. If they are born an artist, I would tell them art is not a game: it is something very serious which completely requires everything you have to give.
Fernando BoteroRead
I was drawing a mandolin, and I made the sound hole very small, which made the mandolin look gigantic. I saw that making the details small made the form monumental. So in my figures, the eyes, the mouth are all small, and the exterior form is huge.
Fernando BoteroRead
When you start a painting, it is somewhat outside you. At the conclusion, you seem to move inside the painting.
Fernando BoteroRead
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