Botero, Fernando

Botero, Fernando (1932-2023), was a Colombian painter and sculptor. Botero’s works feature rounded figures and satirical portrayals of powerful subjects. His style, known as Boterismo, shows figures of exaggerated volume with bright colors. Botero painted and sculpted animals, people, and still-life scenes of food. Still-life paintings are close-ups of objects.

Colombian artist Fernando Botero with his painting After Velazquez
Colombian artist Fernando Botero with his painting After Velazquez

Botero was born in Medellín, Colombia, on April 19, 1932. His father died when he was four years old. Botero began drawing and painting in watercolors at a young age. When Botero was 12 years old, an uncle enrolled him in a bullfighting school. A man who sold tickets to bullfights began selling Botero’s drawings and paintings. When Botero was 16 years old, his illustrations were published in El Colombiano, a newspaper in Medellín. When Botero was 20 years old, he won second prize at the Salón Nacional de Artistas exhibition in Bogotá, Colombia. He then traveled to Europe to study art.

Botero studied the works of old European master painters in Madrid, Spain; Paris, France; and Florence, Italy. After he returned to Colombia, he entered the Biblioteca Nacional exhibition in 1955. But his art was not well received. Botero moved to Mexico City, Mexico, in 1956. In 1960, he won the Colombian section of the Guggenheim international exhibition. That same year, he moved to New York City, New York. In 1961, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City bought Botero’s painting Mona Lisa, Age 12.

A sculpture titled Horse Man, by the Colombian artist Fernando Botero
A sculpture titled Horse Man, by the Colombian artist Fernando Botero

In 1973, Botero moved to Paris. While in Paris, he began sculpting figures from his paintings. Museums and galleries around the world featured Botero’s work as his popularity grew. Botero’s bronze sculptures are displayed in public spaces in Colombia, France, Israel, Spain, and the United States. Botero addressed the subject of Colombian drug cartels in Masacre de Mejor Esquina (1997) and Death of Pablo Escobar (1999). He addressed the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by United States personnel at Abu Ghraib prison, in Iraq, in a collection called Abu Ghraib (2005). Botero died on Sept. 15, 2023.