Fernando Botero

On September 13, 2023 the world lost a well known and well loved artist from Columbia named Fernando Botero.

Fernando Botero in Tuscany Photo Credit Gabriel Bouys AFP

Botero depicted politicians, animals, saints, and scenes from his childhood in an inflated and colorful way that was instantly recognizable. His paintings were exhibited in leading museums, while his bronze sculptures can be found in European and Latin American capitals.

With a pinch of irony and ingenuity, in each of his paintings, Botero explodes shapes, thighs, arms, and cheeks.

Characters swell, dresses swell, instruments lose their sense of proportion. Botero seduces with the shimmering colors and the playful, oversized shapes of his works. He insisted that he never painted fat people, saying he wished simply to glorify the sensuality of life.

The Street by Fernando Botero

Fernando Botero “La Ballerina” (Dancers at the Bar 2001)

Picnic, 2001 by Fernando Bolero 

His painting “The Musicians” (1979) was sold for a record USD $2.03 million at an auction in New York in 2006, confirming him as Latin Americas most sought after artist.

Botero’s sculpture of a cat shown in Barcelona

Reclining Woman in Cartagena by Fernando Botero