Angel Botello (1913-1986). Reclining Woman. Bronze with brown patina. 14 x 24-1/2 x 9 inches (35.6 x 62.2 x 22.9 cm). Ed...

Description

Angel Botello (1913-1986)
Reclining Woman
Bronze with brown patina
14 x 24-1/2 x 9 inches (35.6 x 62.2 x 22.9 cm)
Ed. 4/9
Impressed on the reverse: Botello
Impressed with Avent-Shaw Foundry, New York mark on reverse

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Bellmawr, New Jersey.

NOTE:
This work's edition number "4/9" should be read as 4/6 as the 6 was inverted in casting to a 9. This work's authenticity has been confirmed by Juan Botello.

Angel Botello, known as "The Caribbean Gauguin," was a multidisciplinary artist celebrated for his use of bold colors to depict island life in Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. Botello, studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he discovered a love for painting.

After completion of his degree, he returned to Spain to attend the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid on scholarship. This time was cut short when the country broke out into Civil War in 1936. Botello enlisted as an army cartographer but fled persecution from the Nationalists in 1939. Angel Botello and his family emigrated to the Caribbean, welcomed by local and exiled Spanish artists alike, creating a pathway for Botello who helped pioneer Puerto Rico's local art scene. Botello was inspired not only by the island but also by his own life and the world around him.

In Reclining Woman, the artist presents an elongated, abstract female form with a finely sculpted, contemplative face resting on the figure's hand. The strong angles and prominent lines of the figure's form reflect modernist influence while contrasting with the delicate features of the face in Botello's distinctive "Botellian-style" of caricature seen in his portrayals of women and children.


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