Fernando Botero
Biography And Paintings Of South American Artist Fernando Botero, Columbian Painter and Scuptor of Obese Figures

The Musicians

Fernando Botero (b.1932)

One of the most famous South American artists of modern times, the Columbian painter Fernando Botero is celebrated for his large-scale caricature-style obese figures, some of which have been repeated as sculpture. His paintings can sell for up to $1 million.

Born in Medellin, Columbia, Botero held two early exhibitions at the Leo Matiz Gallery in Bogota (1951-2) at the age of nineteen, before travelling to Paris and Florence. In 1958, after group and solo exhibitions in America and Mexico, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York, he was appointed Professor of Fine Art Painting at the Bogota Academy of Art. Three years later, the New York Museum of Modern Art acquires his painting 'Mona Lisa at the Age of 12'.

The Collector (1974)

During the period 1965-1982, Botero exhibits around the world: from Bogota to Japan, with retrospectives at the Hirschhorn Museum in Washington DC., and Tokyo. In 1983, the New York Metropolitan Museum buys his picture 'Ball in Columbia'.

More exhibitions of his works, including his sculpture, follow in Munich, Frankfurt, Milan and Naples. In 1990, London's Exchange Square acquires his monumental public bronze sculpture 'Broadgate Venus', while other examples of Botero's public art are shown in Florence, Monte Carlo, the Champs-Elysees in Paris, Madrid's Castellans Boulevard and Park Avenue in New York.

Woman Reading

After early experiments with Abstract Expressionism during the 1950s, Botero developed his unique art style: an obese genre, including grossly inflated women, men, children and animals, many of whom resemble blown-up dolls.

Examples include: The Rich Children (1968), Loving Couple (1973), The Collector (1974), Cat on the Roof (1978), The Death of Luis Chaleta (1984), and Dancer at the Pole (2001).

Cat On the Roof (1978)

The symbolism of his exaggerated proportions is obvious, but complex. Some of his paintings parody the works of Old Masters, others are satirical commentaries on modern life. Despite this, his use of soft colours, the graceful roundedness of his forms and the child-like representation of his characters, give his paintings a unique lightness.

With over 3,000 paintings, 200 sculptures as well as countless drawings, oil paintings and watercolours, Fernando Botero has become of of the most unique and famous artists of recent decades.

• For a guide to art movements and periods, see: History of Art.
• For details of famous artists in Ireland, see: Irish Art: Guide to Visual Arts in Cork

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