The drawings and paintings illustrated in this beautifully designed volume provide a wonderful chronicle of Fernando Botero's creative life from 1982 to the present.

Culled from extensive conversations, the accompanying text brings to the reader the voice of an artist who regards painting as a "physical necessity," declaring that "when I think of reality, I think of a painted reality." Many of these images - of generals and prostitutes, lovers and solitary men, horses and cows, bishops and ladies gathered in gardens - have never been published before.

Impassive and seemingly mute, Botero's people nevertheless inhabit their world with a fullness and sensuousness that is unforgettable and powerful.

The matches and groups of works on these pages have been made by the artist himself, who has attended to the book with the same affection brought to each painting and drawing. In the process of creating this volume he has joined forces with Paola Gribaudo, the Turin-based designer who has collaborated with him for ten years.

In oil or pastel on canvas, each stroke of the brush or movement of the hand is made with the knowledge that it will create another small but important part of the rich and enigmatic world for which he is so well known. Rounding out the volume are an illustrated biography, list of exhibitions, and selected bibliography.