Style Imitating Art: “Four Women!”

Style Imitating Art…

Welcome to Style Imitating Art which comes from Salazar, Shelbee, and me. You can think of this series as fashion meets art museum! SIA challenges people to find inspiration in different art works, create looks based upon that art work, and share them with the curator for that piece. Oh, my goodness! Shelbee is the curator for this week’s art, and it is a doozy! I actually really like the art work, but I had a little difficulty coming up with something for it! I hope you enjoy this post, the information, and my interpretation.

How it works…

Every other Monday one of us selects an inspiration piece of art and posts the image on their blog. We then invite others to interpret that art work through their style. The following Monday, we share our outfits. The curator shares submissions the following Wednesday on her blog. Shelbee chose this week’s art work for this round of Style Imitating Art. If you’d like, you can read why she chose it here. Please send your photo to Shelbee by Tuesday, April 9th by 10 pm EST. Style Imitating Art is an interesting way to inspire your outfits. You can see a few of my looks here, here, here, and here.

“Four Women”

About the artist…

Fernando Botero Angulo was born on April 19, 1932 in Medellín, Colombia. At the time of his birth, Medellín, a town in a valley of the Andes Mountain range, was rather small. His father, David, was a traveling salesman only on horseback, not a car. When Botero was four, his father died. His mother, Flora, worked as a seamstress to support her three sons and herself. An uncle played a big role in the life of the young boy and was responsible for enrolling him in matador school in 1944. But, Botero had already begun painting in watercolors. Fortunately, his uncle realized the young boy would rather paint the bulls than fight them!

A little more…

By 1948, Botero had published some of his illustrations in one of the most important newspapers in Medellín. In three years, at age 19, he would have a one-man show in Bogotá. The next year would find Botero in Madrid after winning second prize in Bogotá’s Salón Nacional de Artistas. In 1958, he would win first prize. While in Spain and Europe, Botero would study the Prado’s Old Masters as well as the Masters of the Italian Renaissance and the works at the Louvre. From that time on, he spent most of his time in Paris but would always return to Colombia saying he was “the most Colombian artist living.”

Even more…

Sometime in 1964, Botero began sculpting. At the time, he couldn’t afford bronze so he worked with acrylic resin and saw dust. Because those materials were too porous, he abandoned sculpture for a few years. By the 70s, he was able to work with bronze. On June 10, 1995, one of his sculptures, Pájaro (Bird), was blown up by a terrorist group in Medellín. This happened during a musical festival, killing 23 people and injuring 200 more. Botero insisted the remains of the sculpture stay in place and created another, La Paloma de la Paz  (The Dove of Peace), to be placed beside the other (source).

“Although Botero maintained that ‘art should be an oasis, a place of refuge from the hardness of life’, his work is at times stridently political. Beginning in the 1990s, he painted a series focusing on Colombia’s drug-related violence. One painting, Death of Pablo Escobar, depicts the Colombian drug baron being gunned down by the police. Explaining his response to his country’s drug violence in 2000, Botero stated, ‘The Colombian drama is so out of proportion that today you cannot ignore the violence, the thousands of displaced and dead, the processions of coffins. Against all my principles I had to paint [the violence].’ Later, he produced his Abu Ghraib series (click on the hyperlink, then click on the pdf if you want to see the series), focusing on reports of the torture of Iraqi prisoners (source.)”

A skosh more…

While some may find Botero’s work cartoonish or even insulting, I think just the opposite. Remembering, of course, I am not an expert on art, I find Botero’s work highly stylized. I also think Botero loved the human body, especially the female form. He always said his figures were not fat; they had volume. I believe Botero painted these women, in this painting and others, with love in his paints and paintbrushes. I don’t often interject my personal opinions about artists, but I think Fernando Botero must have been a very compassionate and loving person. In 2000, he donated 123 pieces of his own work along with pieces from his private collection. Those included works by Chagall, Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, and many of the French Impressionists to the Museo Botero in Bogotá as well as donating 119 pieces to the Museum of Antioquia. This became known as the Botero Plaza. I’m sure that collection of donations was worth millions of dollars. On September 15, 2023, at age 91, Fernando Botero passed from complications of pneumonia. You can read more here.

About the art work…

“Cuatro Mujeres” was painted in 1987 and is oil on canvas. It measures 81 x 75.2 in (205.7 x 191 cm). I searched and searched and could not find any information on where this painting is currently. Another painting done in the same time frame (here) sold for $2,055,000! Many of Botero’s works command the same prices.

My interpretation…

The hair woes continue! I just can’t get my hair to do anything, and my photos reflect that. I apologize! My look is a bit of an amalgamation of all four women, I think. There’s a little pink, a little green, some flowers, and some snazzy red shoes! How old does something have to be before it’s vintage? This is one of my very first April Cornell dresses. It’s called the Cameo and was probably bought in the early 90s. I love the colors and the print. The only thing I don’t love is that it doesn’t have any pockets. I’m so glad I kept almost all my April Cornell clothing from when I was teaching. For many years, it was all too big, but I have, alas and alack, grown into it. I added a green slip (same slip, different color) from Gudrun Sjödén so that poor woman with her “wardrobe malfunction” doesn’t feel left out!

The Lewk!

Well, I had to wear red shoes, right? These sneakers are by Rockport and are sooooo comfortable. I often forget I have them because I usually resort to my grungy old Sofft sneaks! I decided to wear prasiolite jewelry once again. Green just seemed to be the predominant color in my mind even though it’s actually not! But, I also don’t have any red jewelry so there’s that!

Wrap it up, Marsha!

As I’m going through my voluptuous era right now, this was perhaps the perfect piece of art for me! I really enjoyed looking at different paintings by Botero. With the exception of his political paintings, there’s this joy and even a bit of orneriness in his paintings. I am going to seek him out at Newfields the next time we go. So, can we talk? What do you think of this style of painting? Does it appeal to you, or does it bother you? Would you have dared to imitate the lady in green? Please leave a comment or two, and we can talk. I promise to respond as soon as possible.

10 on the 10th…

I hope you’re planning to join in on the 10 on the 10th this month. There’s even a link party!

Don’t forget…

If you want to be included in the Style Imitating Art round up, send Shelbee your photo by 10:00 EST Tuesday, April 9th. Photos of everyone participating will appear on Shelbee’s blog on Wednesday, April 10th! This may be the perfect painting to start out with…there’s a little bit of everything in it…color, texture, graphics! Come on, give it a try!

Thank you!

I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for reading, commenting, subscribing or emailing! It truly means so much to me! If you’d like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me here.

Affiliate links, discount codes and such:

Just a reminder that Marsha in the Middle may use an affiliate link. Those links are usually italicized. If you click or make a purchase from an italicized link I provide, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support. I am an April Cornell Brand Ambassador for another season. You can use my code, MARSHA15, for $15 off any order over $100. Use Marsha12 for 12% off any order of $65 or more at Buykud. I have also become a Halftee Partner. Use the code, MARSHA2098, for 20% off any purchase. I am also an affiliate with Clara Sunwoo. You can use my code, MARSHA10, for 10% off your entire order. In case you didn’t know, bloggers must disclose the use of affiliate links. That’s why I include this in each post.

Where you can find me:

Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style,  Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, The Grey Brunette, and Away from the Blue as well as Deb’s World and A Fresh Cup of Coffee. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping Bag, Doused in Pink, I do deClaire, Mummabstylish, Style Splash and Elegantly Dressed and Stylish. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month. I co-host Traffic Jam Weekend every Thursday with Melynda, Lisa, and Sue. I also host Final Fridays on the last Friday of the month as well as 10 on the 10th on the 10th of the month! I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties!

First Name

Last Name

List choice Marsha’s Blog

Email address:

Leave this field empty if you’re human: