Fernando Botero’s inimitable style of voluminous figures that has positioned him on the world stage as undoubtedly the most important and recognisable Colombian modern painter. Botero developed this signature technique early in his career in the 1960s, and yet his recent work continues to impress upon us the artist’s masterful accomplishments and complex trajectory.
Born in the city of Medellin in 1932, Botero had little access to modern art and was thus influenced by the Spanish colonial art found in the chapels of his home town. He earned a scholarship to study abroad in Spain in 1952, where he discovered a catalogue of Italian Renaissance art that reproduced Piero della Francesca’s fresco The Queen of Sheba Adoring the Holy Wood from the Basilica of San Francesco in Arezzo. Enthralled by this work, Botero became obsessed with the sensuality of forms in Italian Renaissance art. Inspired, he moved to Florence to study under the renowned art historian and scholar, Roberto Longhi. Botero’s early paintings evince a deep understanding of both old masters, including Diego Velázquez and Giotto, as well as modern artists, such as Giorgio de Chirico. Botero later traveled to Mexico, where he experienced firsthand the work of Los Tres Grandes: Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco. The monumental scale of the Mexican modernists’ figures paired with their decisive social commentary had a strong impact on Botero’s work, compelling him to experiment with excessive volume and proportions, tools that he would use to intensify the mordant comments he made on society’s shortcomings. Botero died in 2023.
Part 2 of a 6-part series on the works of Fernando Botero:
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| 1969 Woman with Cigarette pastel on paper laid down on board 89.2 x 81 cm |
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| 1969 The Rosary oil on canvas 198.1 x 113 cm |
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| 1969 The Cat oil on linen 136 x 96 cm |
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| 1969 Sunflowers pastel on paper 143.8 x 117.7 cm |
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| 1969 Man Going to Work oil on canvas 188 x 188 cm |
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| 1970 Young Girl pastel on cardboard 69.9 x 63.5 cm |
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| 1970 Vase oil on canvas 193 x 144.8 cm |
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| 1970 The Playroom oil on canvas 206.4 x 191.5 cm |
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| 1970 Self-portrait, on the day of my first communion oil on canvas 108.9 x 94 cm |
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| 1970 Oranges oil on canvas 106 x 94 cm |
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| 1970 Oranges oil on canvas 94 x 106.7 cm |
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| 1970 Bishop lost in the Forest oil on canvas 119.8 x 91.8 cm |
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| 1971 The Rock oil on canvas 165.1 x 129.5 cm |
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| 1971 The President oil on canvas 210.8 x 162.6 cm |
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| 1972 The House of Ana Molina sanguine, charcoal and pastel on linen 205.1 x 182.9 cm |
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| 1972 Still Life with Green Soup oil on canvas 139.7 x 179.1 cm |
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| 1972 Pedro with Monkey pastel on paper 156.8 x 117.2 cm |
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| 1972 Our Lady of Cajicá oil on canvas 243,4 x 181.8 cm |
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| 1972 Delfina oil on canvas 125.7 x 95.3 cm |
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| 1973 Still Life with Watermelon oil on canvas 174.6 x 189.9 cm |
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| 1973 Oranges oil on canvas 106.7 x 125.1 cm |
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| 1973 Head of Mutton watercolour on paper 30.8 x 40 cm |
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| 1973 A Couple sanguine, charcoal and chalk on canvas 192.4 x 160.7 cm |
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| 1974 Vase oil on canvas 226 x 191 cm |
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| 1974 The Idiot graphite, ink and coloured pencil on paper 40 x 32.1 cm |
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| 1974 The Copyist oil on canvas 181 x 193.7 cm |
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| 1974 Still Life with Onions oil on canvas 138.8 x 153 cm |
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| 1974 Portrait of a Girl graphite on paper 43 x 35 cm |
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| 1974 Old Lady oil on canvas 127.6 x 95.3 cm |
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| 1975 Woman's Head white marble 39.1 cm high |
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| 1975 The Hunter oil on canvas 57 x 46 cm |
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| 1975 Perdrito colour lithograph 96.5 x 74.9 cm |
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| 1975 Fruit Basket sanguine on canvas 162.9 x 179.1 cm |
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| 1975 Bowl of Fruits graphite on paper 34 x 43.2 cm |
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| 1976 Man Smoking bronze 56 x 57.2 x 51 cm |
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| 1976 Dog bronze 43.2 x 30.5 x 44.5 cm |
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| 1976-78 Still Life with Watermelon bronze 150 x 200 x 120 cm |
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| c1977 Woman with an Umbrella and Man with a Cane bronze: Woman 228.6 x 88.9 x 76.2 cm Man 203.2 x 86.4 x 63.5 cm |
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| 1977 Woman with Parasol and Dog oil on canvas 198.1 x 109.5 cm |
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| 1977 Still Life with Banana oil on canvas 124.5 x 192.7 cm |
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| 1977 Portrait of Nadine Haim oil and printed paper collage on canvas mounted on board 88.5 x 83 cm |
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| 1977 Pedro on a Horse painted epoxy and resin with synthetic hair and leather 153 x 90 x 80 cm |
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| 1977 The Cardinal oil on canvas 145.7 x 193 cm |
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| 1977 Adan and Eve bronze Adam 116.8 x 52.1 x 29.2 cm Eve 114.9 x 44.4 x 35.6 cm |
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| 1978 The Tree (Tree with Bird) oil on canvas 175.9 x 190.5 cm |
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| 1978 Still Life with Bananas oil on canvas 77.2 x 90.5 cm |
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| 1978 Man Eating oil on canvas 180.3 x 139.7 cm |
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| 1978 Colombiana oil on canvas 181.6 x 133.3 cm |
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| 1979 Still Life watercolour on paper 36 x 47.5 cm |
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| 1979 Still Life sanguine on paper 43.5 x 35 cm |
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| 1979 Still Life in front of a Window oil on canvas 189.9 x 144.1 cm |
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| 1979 Nun graphite and crayon on paper 43.5 x 35.6 cm |
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