Colombian Artist Fernando Botero Dies At 91

Renowned Colombian artist Fernando Botero, celebrated for his oversized sculptures and paintings portraying ample figures, has passed away at the age of 91.

Botero’s artistic repertoire was defined by his signature style of portraying exaggeratedly large individuals and animals, a unique approach that led to global recognition. Yet, beneath the whimsical surface, his art delved into profound themes, including politics.

President Gustavo Petro paid tribute to Botero as “the painter of our traditions and defects, the painter of our virtues.”

On Friday, Botero’s daughter, Lina, revealed that the artist, who resided in Monaco, had succumbed to pneumonia.

Botero’s hometown, Medellín, has declared a week of mourning for the acclaimed artist, hailing him as Colombia’s greatest artistic figure.

Born in 1932 to a traveling salesman, Botero’s journey as an artist was a global one. In his twenties, he ventured to Europe, where he immersed himself in classical art before relocating to the United States in 1960.

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He once described his artistic evolution, explaining that in the late 1950s, he encountered “a new dimension that was more voluminous, more monumental, more extravagant, more extreme.”

Botero became renowned for the exaggeration of size in his subjects, often for humorous or satirical purposes. His reinterpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, with her puffed-up visage, remains one of his most iconic works.

Botero candidly admitted that he found it impossible to portray delicate creatures. A slender object, he claimed, would transform into a bulky, larger-than-life form on canvas or in bronze, with sides bulging.

One example of his dedication to this artistic vision is his response to his daughter’s request to draw an animal for a school assignment: “You see already my brain is completely deformed, I cannot do it. Anything I do is Boteresque.”

While his distinctive style drew both acclaim and critique, he remained steadfast in his approach. “If I paint a woman, a man, a dog or a horse, I always do it with this idea of volume,” Botero explained in a 2014 interview with Spain’s El Mundo newspaper. “I don’t paint fat women. What I do paint are volumes.”

Botero also ventured into more provocative territory, notably with his extensive portraits depicting the US Army’s treatment of inmates at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison. These controversial works were exhibited near President George W. Bush’s White House in Washington.

Fernando Botero’s influence reached far and wide, with studios in Paris, New York, Mexico, Colombia, and Italy. His artistic legacy continues to captivate and inspire, with his works commanding prices exceeding $2 million at auctions, according to Sotheby’s auction house.