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 4 of a 6-part series on the works of Fernando Botero:
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| c1986 Pedro on a Horse painted epoxy 151.8 x 98.7 cm |
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| 1987 Woman's Head terracotta 43.9 x 34.3 x 29.8 cm |
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| 1987 The Dancers oil on canvas? 130 x 195 cm |
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| 1987 Grapes pastel on paper 55 x 50 cm |
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| 1987 En la Plaza oil on canvas 182.9 x 130.5 cm |
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| 1988 Still Life with Pineapple oil on canvas 146.1 x 198.1 cm |
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| 1988 Little Bird bronze 40.6 x 45.7 x 40.6 cm |
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| 1988 Juan Rodriguez Conejo oil on canvas 63.5 x 57.2 cm |
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| 1988 Eliseo Velásquez's Guerrilla oil on canvas 154 x 201 cm |
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| 1989 Woman in front of a Window oil on canvas 47 x 35.6 cm |
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| 1989 Woman in Blue oil on linen 287 x 215.9 cm |
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| 1989 Woman bronze 299.7 x 121.9 x 121.9 cm |
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| 1989 Shoeshine oil on canvas 198.1 x 130.8 cm |
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| 1989 Man with Guitar oil on canvas 38.4 x 32.1 cm |
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| 1989 Girl with Cat oil on canvas 169.5 x 123.8 cm |
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| 1989 Dog marble 48.3 x 38.1 x 22.2 cm |
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| 1989 A Violinist oil on canvas 124 x 94 cm |
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| 1990 Three Musicians saguine on canvas 186.7 x 155.6 cm |
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| 1990 The President oil on canvas 52 x 30 cm |
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| 1990 Mozart '91 Salzburg colour lithograph poster image 70 x 48 cm |
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| 1990 Man Smoking (details not found) Museo Botero, Bogotá, Colombia |
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| 1991 Girl with Hoop pencil and pastel on paper 55 x 41 cm |
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| c1992 Male Torso with Leaf bronze 49.2 x 34.3 x 15.2 cm |
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| 1992 Horse painted bronze 154.9 x 109.2 x 68.6 cm |
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| 1993 Woman with Flower pencil and watercolour on canvas 12.5 x 101.6 cm |
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| 1993 Woman charcoal, graphite and pastel on canvas 122.2 x 105 cm |
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| 1993 Niño sanguine and charcoal on canvas 130 x 99 cm |
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| 1993 Man at the Beach watercolour on canvas 99.1 x 127 cm |
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| 1993 Head bronze 38.4 x 21 x 24.1 cm |
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| 1993 Boy with Toy Horse oil on canvas 87 x 72 cm |
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| 1994 Woman smoking medium? 122 x 99 cm |
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| 1994 Woman bitten by a Dog pastel, charcoal, watercolour and pencil on canvas 98.4 x 125 cm |
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| 1994 Still Life with Watermelon oil on canvas 99.4 x 124.8 cm |
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| 1994 Poodle pastel and charcoal on paper 41.3 x 33 cm |
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| 1994 Interior oil on canvas 120 x 91 cm |
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| 1994 In Front of the Cathedral oil on canvas 111.8 x 97.8 cm |
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| 1995 Toreador oil on canvas 41 x 35.2 cm |
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| 1995 The Street oil on canvas 150 x 111.8 cm |
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| 1995 The House oil on canvas 156.2 x 118.1 cm |
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| 1995 Society Lady oil on canvas 126 x 99 cm |
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| 1995 Horse with Saddle bronze 50.8 x 52 x 28 cm |
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| 1995 Horse with Saddle bronze with brown patina 45.7 x 40.6 x 24.8 cm |
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| 1995 Dancers graphite, charcoal and watercolour on canvas 126.6 x 97.3 cm |
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| 1996 Woman in Profile oil on canvas 153.7 x 90.2 cm |
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| 1996 The Diva (The Regiment's Daughter) oil and graphite on canvas 43.2 x 32.4 cm |
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| 1996 Man eating oil on canvas 49 x 33 cm |
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| 1996 Interior oil on canvas 190 x 117 cm |
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| 1997 Still Life in front of a Window charcoal and pastel on canvas 120 x 100.3 cm |
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| 1997 Society Lady oil on canvas 125.7 x 97.8 cm |
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| 1997 Man and Horse oil on canvas 61.3 x 48.9 cm |
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| 1997 Goya charcoal, graphite and pastel on paper 122.9 x 100.8 cm |
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| 1997 A Family oil on canvas 163.8 x 187.3 cm |
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| 1997 The Seamstress oil on canvas 117.2 x 98.1 cm |
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| 1997 The Arnolfini (after Van Eyck - see below) oil on canvas 134 x 106.7 cm |
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| The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck 1434 oil on oak panel 82.2 x 60 cm The National Gallery, London |
