Renowned Colombian Artist Fernando Botero Dies

[Judi Lynn]

September 16, 2023



Fernando Botero

Fernando Botero, the most recognized Colombian artist has died. Credit: Museo de Antioquia / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0


Fernando Botero, the most internationally recognized Colombian artist, has died at the age of 91.

By Josep Freixes

The painter, sculptor, and draftsman Fernando Botero died today in Monaco, where he was living. The news was announced by Colombian journalist Julio Sanchez Cristo and confirmed by the artist’s son. It has been reported that Botero, had been suffering from pneumonia in recent days, which ultimately led to his death.

The artist was born in Medellin in 1932 and rose to fame in 1962 after an exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Center in Wisconsin, USA, where he received excellent reviews. The restless creator quickly began to travel throughout Europe and the United States in search of his own artistic voice. He journeyed from Bogota to New York, Paris, Milan, and eventually settled in the town of Pietrasanta, Italy.

Pietrasanta and Boterismo
Pietrasanta, a coastal town in Tuscany, Italy, served as Fernando Botero’s personal refuge from the 1970s onwards. There, where Renaissance artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo once worked, the Colombian artist began collaborating with some of the region’s most distinguished marble workshops. Pietrasanta became Botero’s home for many years, and although he had not resided in Italy for some time, this northern Italian town is still infused with the essence of Boterismo.

Grecian Delight supports Greece
The relationship between Botero and Pietrasanta blossomed thanks to the town’s rich artistic tradition. Pietrasanta is renowned for its marble sculpture industry and its artistic community. Botero, drawn to the craftsmanship of local sculptors and the creative environment, was inspired to create a series of monumental sculptures. These sculptures, with their characteristic rounded and exaggerated forms, became an integral part of Pietrasanta’s cultural landscape.

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Through his art, Botero addressed issues such as inequality, oppression, and the violence that has plagued not only his native Colombia but the entire Latin American region for decades. Despite his distinctive style, his work transcended conventional standards of aesthetics, inviting reflection and questioning of traditional perceptions of beauty.

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More:
https://greekreporter.com/2023/09/16/fernando-botero-colombia-artist-die/

2 photos of Botero paintings of the assassination of mega-drug lord, Pablo Escobar:





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Paintings done before the Abu Ghraib "anti-humanity" era:



















Mona Lisa at the age of twelve

[FM123]

1. Oh no. One of my favorites!

Every time they held a Latin American art exhibition at our local museum, Botero's work was first on my list to see....

[Judi Lynn]

2. Irreplaceable person. No one remotely like him. What a shame.

I read they had a huge showing of his Abu Ghraib images in San Francisco.

He did some very explicit images I had never seen which appeared in Google Images, and I realized that they simply weren't published in the U.S. I'm glad Botero went ahead and memorialized them, to share the truth of what they endured at the hands of the Bush administration.

I started to post a couple I saw, but realized they could get me bounced outta here, if certain posters decided to make an issue of the directness. Here's a link to Botero google images:

https://tinyurl.com/29zn3w43

While the great people and great voices are silenced, the brutal, sociopathic ones seem to never, ever leave!

[EX500rider]

3. Oh that's too bad

I've been to his art museum & Plaza in Medellin several times and have one of his prints and 2 small copies of his statues that they sell in the Plaza in my house.