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 6 of a 6-part series on the works of Fernando Botero:
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| 2007 Woman on a Horse bronze 119.4 x 88.9 x 58.4 cm |
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| 2007 Trumpet Player oil on canvas 43.2 x 38.1 cm |
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| 2007 Tightrope Walker oil on canvas 72.4 x 55.2 cm |
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| 2007 The Trapezist oil on canvas 82 x 56.5 cm |
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| 2007 Gymnast graphite, pastel and sanguine on paper 41 x 30.8 cm |
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| 2007 Equilibrist oil on canvas 175 x 117.5 cm |
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| 2007 Dancers bronze with dark brown patina 318.1 x 200 x 160 cm |
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| 2008 Circus Women pastel and pencil on paper 38.1 x 30.5 cm |
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| 2008 Circus Woman with Dog oil on canvas 56 x 48 cm |
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| 2008 Circus Woman oil on canvas 133 x 95 cm |
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| 2008 Circus Girl in her Trailer oil on canvas 135.9 x 99.7 cm |
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| 2008 Circus Band oil on canvas 185 x 141 cm |
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| 2008 Woman with Monkey graphite and coloured crayons on paper 41 x 28.6 cm |
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| 2008 Woman and Flowers oil on canvas 162 x 152 cm |
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| 2008 White Pierrot oil on canvas 136.2 x 100.3 cm |
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| 2008 The Trapeze Artists oil on canvas 92.5 x 74.5 cm |
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| 2008 Seated Woman with Monkey oil on canvas 102 x 82.6 cm |
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| 2009 Picnic oil on canvas 98.4 x 129.2 cm |
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| 2009 Man on a Horse bronze 47 x 24.1 x 58.4 cm |
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| 2009 After Raphael oil on canvas 76.2 x 64.7 cm |
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| 2009 After Holbein oil on canvas 51.3 x 38.1 cm |
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| 2010 The Street oil on canvas 185 x 140 cm |
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| 2010 The Street charcoal and watercolour on canvas 129.5 x 96.5 cm |
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| 2010 Man on a Horse bronze 128.9 x 76.9 x 61 cm |
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| 2010 Lawyer and Secretary oil on canvas 206 x 129 cm |
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| 2010 Horse bronze 117.5 x 126 x 60 cm |
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| 2010 Dancing Couple pencil on paper 31.1 x 23.5 cm |
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| 2010 Dancing Couple oil on canvas 144.2 x 100.3 cm |
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| 2011 The Card Players oil on canvas 71 x 92 cm |
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| 2012 Woman Smoking oil on canvas 133.4 x 96.5 cm |
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| 2012 A Party oil on canvas 182.9 x 151.1 cm |
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| 2013 The Couple oil on canvas 121 x 96.8 cm |
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| 2013 Still Life with blue Coffee Pot watercolour on paper laid on board 82.2 x 92.1 cm |
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| 2013 Singer charcoal, sanguine and ochre on canvas 119 x 100 cm |
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| 2013 Couple with Still Life oil on canvas 94 x 119.4 cm |
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| 2014 Santa Rosalía oil on canvas 186 x 99 cm |
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| 2014 Dancers charcoal on canvas 125 x 100 cm |
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| 2015 Saint with Hat oil on canvas 198.1 x 97.8 cm |
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| 2015 Saint Joan oil on canvas 198.1 x 97.8 cm |
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| 2015 People drinking oil on canvas 72 x 87 cm |
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| 2016 The Singer oil on canvas 189 x 155 cm |
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| 2016 Carnival M oil on canvas 126.4 x 100.3 cm |
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| 2016 Ballerina bronze 116.8 cm high |
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| 2017 Nightlife oil on canvas 167 x 206.5 cm |
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| 2019 The Party graphite, coloured pencil and watercolour on canvas 130 x 100 cm |
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| 2019 Dancers charcoal on cavas 134.6 x 99.1 cm |
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| 2021 Violinist pencil, watercolour and coloured pencil on paper 41 x 31 cm |
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| 2021 Man and Woman drinking oil on canvas 99.1 x 137.8 cm |
Note: Dates were not found for the few remaining images:
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| The Bullfighter's Bedroom oil on linen 162 x 120 cm |
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| Good Morning oil on canvas 136 x 93 cm |
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| Dressed Woman bronze 35.6 x 154.9 x 154.9 cm |
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| Van der Weyden painting his Wife oil and paper collage on canvas 130.8 x 147.3 cm |
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| Adam and Eve bronze with dark brown patina Adam 358.1 x 170.2 x 96.5 cm Eve 350.5 x 142.2 x 116.8 cm |
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