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Fernando Botero Angulo (born 19 April 1932) is a Colombian figurative artist and sculptor, born in Medellín. His signature style, also known as "Boterismo", depicts people and figures in large, exaggerated volume, which can represent political criticism or humor, depending on the piece. He is considered the most recognized and quoted living artist from Latin America, and his art can be found in highly visible places around the world, such as
Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...
in New York City and the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Self-titled "the most Colombian of Colombian artists" early on, Botero came to national prominence when he won the first prize at the
Salón de Artistas Colombianos The Salon of Colombian Artists ( es, Salón de Artistas Colombianos) is a cultural event in Colombia, considered the event with most trajectory. This event is celebrated every year between August 5 and September 12 with two main categories a nation ...
in 1958. He began creating sculptures after moving to Paris in 1973, achieving international recognition with exhibitions around the world by the 1990s. His art is collected by many major international museums, corporations, and private collectors. In 2012, he received the International Sculpture Center's Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award.


Biography


Early life

Fernando Botero was born as the second of three sons of David Botero (1895–1936) and Flora Angulo (1898–1972) in 1932. His father David Botero, a salesman who traveled by horseback, died of a heart attack when Fernando was four. His mother worked as a seamstress. An uncle took a major role in his life. Although isolated from art as presented in museums and other cultural institutes, Botero was influenced by the
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...
style of the colonial churches and the city life of Medellín while growing up. He received his primary education in Antioquia Ateneo and, thanks to a scholarship, he continued his secondary education at the Jesuit School of Bolívar. In 1944, Botero's uncle sent him to a school for
matadors A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activity ...
for two years. In 1948, Botero at the age of 16 had his first illustrations published in the Sunday supplement of '' El Colombiano'', one of the most important newspapers in Medellín. He used the money he was paid to attend high school at the Liceo de Marinilla de Antioquia.


Career

Botero's work was first exhibited in 1948, in a group show along with other artists from the region."Fernando Botero"
ArtFact
From 1949 to 1950, Botero worked as a set designer, before moving to Bogotá in 1951. His first one-man show was held at the Galería Leo Matiz in Bogotá, a few months after his arrival. In 1952, Botero travelled with a group of artists to
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, where he stayed briefly before moving on to
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
. In Madrid, Botero studied at the Academia de San Fernando. In 1952, he traveled to Bogotá, where he had a solo exhibition at the Leo Matiz gallery. In 1953, Botero moved to Paris, where he spent most of his time in the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...
, studying the works there. He lived in
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
, Italy from 1953 to 1954, studying the works of Renaissance masters. In recent decades, he has lived most of the time in Paris, but spends one month a year in his native city of Medellín. He has had more than 50 exhibitions in major cities worldwide, and his work commands selling prices in the millions of dollars. In 1958, he won the ninth edition of the
Salón de Artistas Colombianos The Salon of Colombian Artists ( es, Salón de Artistas Colombianos) is a cultural event in Colombia, considered the event with most trajectory. This event is celebrated every year between August 5 and September 12 with two main categories a nation ...
."El poder en Colombia: Los cien personajes mas influyentes de Colombia"
, InfoArt, ''Dinero'', 1 May 1995


Style

While his work includes still-lifes and landscapes, Botero has concentrated on situational portraiture. His paintings and sculptures are united by their proportionally exaggerated, or "fat" figures, as he once referred to them."Fernando Botero: at Thomas Gibson Fine Art"
LondonNet, 20 September 2010
Botero explains his use of these "large people", as they are often called by critics, in the following way:
"An artist is attracted to certain kinds of form without knowing why. You adopt a position intuitively; only later do you attempt to rationalize or even justify it."
Though he spends only one month a year in Colombia, he considers himself the "most Colombian artist living", due to his isolation from the international trends of the art world. In 2004, Botero exhibited a series of 27 drawings and 23 paintings dealing with the violence in Colombia from 1999 through 2004. He donated the works to the
National Museum of Colombia The National Museum of Colombia ( es, Museo Nacional de Colombia) is the National Museum of Colombia housing collections on its history, art, culture."Fernando Botero: Donation and Controversy"
, Great Masters of Art. Retrieved 20 September 2010 In 2005, Botero gained considerable attention for his ''Abu Ghraib'' series, which was exhibited first in Europe. He based the works on reports of United States forces' abuses of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison during the
Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
. Beginning with an idea he had on a plane journey, Botero produced more than 85 paintings and 100 drawings in exploring this concept and "painting out the poison". The series was exhibited at two United States locations in 2007, including Washington, DC. Botero said he would not sell any of the works, but would donate them to museums. In 2009, the Berkeley Art Museum acquired (as a gift from the artist) 56 paintings and drawings from the Abu Ghraib series, which can be seen online. Selections from the series have been regularly included in the museum's annual Art for Human Rights exhibitions. In 2006, after having focused exclusively on the Abu Ghraib series for over 14 months, Botero returned to the themes of his early life such as the family and maternity. In his ''Une Famille''"Family"
, oil on canvas 2006
Botero represented the Colombian family, a subject often painted in the seventies and eighties. In his ''Maternity'',"Maternity"
, drawing 2006
Botero repeated a composition he already painted in 2003,"Maternity"
, oil on canvas, 2003
being able to evoke a sensuous velvety texture that lends it a special appeal and testifies for a personal involvement of the artist. The child in the 2006 drawing has a wound in his right chest, as though the artist wished to identify him with Jesus Christ, thus giving it a religious meaning that was absent in the 2003 artwork. In 2008, he exhibited the works of his ''The Circus'' collection, featuring 20 works in oil and watercolor. In a 2010 interview, Botero said that he was ready for other subjects: "After all this, I always return to the simplest things: still lifes."


Sculpture

Between 1963 and 1964, Fernando Botero attempted to create sculptures. Due to financial constraints preventing him from working with bronze, he made his sculptures with acrylic resin and sawdust. A notable example during this time was ''Small Head (Bishop)'' in 1964, a sculpture painted with great realism. However, the material was too porous, and Botero decided to abandon this method.


Donations

Botero has donated several artworks to museums in Bogotá and his hometown, Medellín. In 2000, Botero donated to the
Museo Botero The Botero Museum also known as Museo Botero is a museum located in Bogotá, Colombia. It houses one of Latin America's most important international art collections. It sees over 500,000 visitors annually, and of those 2,000 students per month. B ...
in Bogotá 123 pieces of his work and 85 pieces from his personal collection, including works by
Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...
, Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, and the French impressionists. He donated 119 pieces to the Museum of Antioquia. His donation of 23 bronze sculptures for the front of the museum became known as the
Botero Plaza Botero Plaza, surrounded by the Museum of Antioquia and the Rafael Uribe Uribe Palace of Culture, is a 7,000 m2 outside park that displays 23 sculptures by Colombian artist Fernando Botero, who donated these and several other artworks for the muse ...
. Four more sculptures can be found in Medellín's Berrio Park and San Antonio Plaza nearby. In response to the Colombian peace process, Botero sculptured and donated '' La paloma de la paz'' (2016) to the Government of Colombia to commemorate the signing and ratification of the agreement.


Personal life

Botero married Gloria Zea, who became the director of the Colombian Institute of Culture (Colcultura). Together they had three children: Fernando, Lina, and Juan Carlos. The Boteros divorced in 1960 and each remarried. Starting in 1960, Botero lived for 14 years in New York, but more recently has settled in Paris. Lina also lives outside of Colombia, and in 2000 Juan Carlos moved to southern Florida. In 1964, Botero began living with Cecilia Zambrano. They had a son, Pedro, born in 1974, who was killed in 1979 in a car accident in which Botero was also injured. Botero and Zambrano separated in 1975.Godfrey Barker, "Pure Colombian; Fernando Botero is the scourge of critics and the collectors' darling"
''The Evening Standard'' (London, England), 3 April 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2010
Lastly, Botero married the Greek artist Sophia Vari. They reside in Paris and have a house in Pietrasanta, Italy. Botero's 80th birthday was commemorated with an exhibition of his works at Pietrasanta.


Popular culture

Botero's 1964 painting ''Pope Leo X (after Raphael)'' has found a second life as a popular internet meme. It is typically seen with the caption "y tho".


Recent exhibitions

* "Fund-Raiser" Exhibition with Sonia Falcone at Calvin Charles Gallery (2003),
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* "Botero at Ebisu" (2004), Tokyo * "Fernando Botero" (2006),
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* "The Baroque World of Fernando Botero" (2007),
Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...
* "Abu Ghraib Exhibit" (2007),
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
* "Botero: Abu Ghraib" (6 November – 30 December 2007), American University Museum * "Botero Abu Ghraib" Exposition (2008), Centro de las Artes I Monterrey, Mexico * "The Baroque World of Fernando Botero" (May 2008), Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington * "The Baroque World of Fernando Botero" (28 June – 21 September 2008), New Orleans Museum of Art * "The Baroque World of Fernando Botero" (30 May – 16 August 2009), Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center * "The Baroque World of Fernando Botero" (19 October – 11 January 2009), Brooks Museum of Art,
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...
* "The Baroque World of Fernando Botero" (12 September 2009 – 6 December 2009), Bowers Museum,
Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the 13th-m ...
* "Fernando Botero" (September 2009)
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, Bandi Gallery * "Fernando Botero: Works On Paper, Paintings, and Sculptures" (11 February – 28 March 2010), David Benrimon Fine Art, New York, NY * "The Baroque World of Fernando Botero" (1 May – 25 July 2010), Nevada Museum of Art,
Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is th ...
* "Botero" (4 May – 18 July 2010), Pera Museum,
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* "Botero in LA" (15 September - 30 October 2010), Tasende Gallery, West Hollywood, California, USA * "The Baroque World of Fernando Botero" (21 August – 14 November 2010), Glenbow Museum, Calgary * "The Baroque World of Fernando Botero" (10 December 2010 – 27 February 2011), Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg * "Botero" (October 2011 – January 2012), Kunstforum, Vienna * "Fernando Botero" (July 2015 – October 2015),
Seoul Arts Center The Seoul Arts Center, also referred to as SAC, is an arts complex in the Seocho-gu district of Seoul, in South Korea. It consists of five main buildings: the Opera House, with three auditoriums; the Music Hall, with two concert halls; the Han ...
,
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...
* "Botero in China" (November 2015 – January 2016), The National Museum of China, Beijing * "Botero in China" (January 2016 – April 2016), China Art Museum, Shanghai * "Botero: Celebrate Life!" (July 2016 – September 2016), Kunsthal Rotterdam,
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*"Botero on Lincoln Road" (November 2019 - March 2020), Nader Museum, Miami, Florida *"Permanent Collection" (Present), NAMLA


Gallery

File:Botero Berlin - panoramio (2).jpg, Exhibition in Berlin File:Gato, Botero.JPG, ''Cat'', 1990, Barcelona, Spain File:Maternidad de Botero (Oviedo).jpg, ''Motherhood'', Oviedo, Spain File:Mujer_con_espejo,_Botero,_Madrid_(03).jpg, '' Woman with Mirror'', 1987 File:Woman Smoking a Cigarette (36322452893).jpg, ''Woman with cigarette'', Yerevan File:Fernando Botero, Bird (1990), Singapore - 20040616.jpg, ''Bird'', 1990, in front of UOB Plaza, Singapore File:Centurion (5211881978).jpg, ''Roman Warrior'', Cafesjian Museum of Art, Yerevan, Armenia File:'Man on Horse', bronze sculpture by Fernando Botero (Colombian), 1992, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel.JPG, ''Man on Horse'', bronze, 1992, at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel File:2014 Erywań, Park przy Kaskadach (20).jpg, "The Cat", Yerevan, Armenia File:Botero.La mano.JPG, '' The Hand'', Madrid, Spain File:Cascada, Ereván, Armenia, 2016-10-03, DD 19.jpg, ''Smoking woman'', Cafesjian Museum of Art, Yerevan, Armenia File:Bilbao -Fernando Botero, Caballo con bridas (2009).jpg, ''Caballo con bridas'',
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File:AdamandEve-FernandoBotero-20100414.jpg, ''Adam and Eve'', near Crockfords Tower at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore File:Ladamadebotero.jpg, ''Lady'', Medellín File:Goslar Botero 02.jpg, Sculpture by Fernando Botero in Goslar File:Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein 8a.JPG, Sculpture by Fernando Botero in front of the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz File:Broadgate Venus 2020.jpg, ''Broadgate Venus'', 1989, London File:Cat statue created by Fernando Botero.jpg, ''Cat'', Cafesjian Museum of Art, Yerevan, Armenia


See also

* ''Adam'' (Botero), Seattle * Botero (surname) Italian surname


References


External links

*
Botero's Cats

Gallery of Botero's Artwork

Places To Go in Bogotá: Botero Museum Bogotá
– video and information


Abu Ghraib series

* A short movie on the Abu Ghraib series by Fernando Botero.

It has been announced by the Director and Curator of the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington, D.C. that Botero's paintings will be exhibited there at the end of this year

Mark Scroggins discusses Botero's series of canvases & drawings based on the reports of prisoner abuse in
Abu Ghraib Abu Ghraib (; ar, أبو غريب, ''Abū Ghurayb'') is a city in the Baghdad Governorate of Iraq, located just west of Baghdad's city center, or northwest of Baghdad International Airport. It has a population of 189,000 (2003). The old road ...

''Abu Ghraib: January 29 – March 25, 2007''
The first US institutional exhibition at UC Berkeley, with a webcast of a conversation between Fernando Botero and Robert Hass on the day of the opening

The first US gallery exhibition at the Marlborough in New York
''The Body in Pain''
this essay by
Arthur Danto Arthur Coleman Danto (January 1, 1924 – October 25, 2013) was an American art critic, philosopher, and professor at Columbia University. He was best known for having been a long-time art critic for '' The Nation'' and for his work in philosop ...
at
The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
about Botero's ''Abu Ghraib'' series, discusses what Danto refers to as "disturbatory art"
"Botero Sees the World's True Heavies at Abu Ghraib"
by Erica Jong at ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' about Botero's ''Abu Ghraib'' series
"Botero's Abu Ghraib Series and the American Consciousness"
by Maymanah Farhat at '' Monthly Review'' discusses Botero's ''Abu Ghraib'' series in the larger context of American art and politics {{DEFAULTSORT:Botero, Fernando 1932 births Colombian painters Colombian male painters Living people Modern painters Modern sculptors 20th-century Colombian sculptors Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic