Maestro Fernando Botero
Born in Medellín, Colombia, in 1932, Master Fernando Botero is one of the world’s most recognized artists of our time. With his first paintings and drawings inspired by Gustave Doré’s engravings of the Divine Comedy and posters of the Bullfight, Botero held his first exhibition in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1951, and in 1952 he won second place in the “Salón Nacional de Artistas”, the national prize for the arts. With the prize money he earned, he travelled to Madrid and Florence, where he studied the use of volume and perspective in the work of the Masters of the Renaissance. With a style that is immediately recognized and celebrated throughout the world, Botero has made universal the local landscapes of Latin American life he experienced during his childhood.
Renowned for his distinctive style, that stands out for its exploration of color and exaggerated volume, Fernando Botero has single-handedly redefined beauty by using sensual and voluptuous forms and a pioneering notion of aesthetics. So much so that his work has been recognized across cultural and geographical borders, far from his hometown in Colombia. Although his subject matters have always been local, the universal language of art has propelled him to worldwide success. With a career spanning almost 70 years and having exhibited all over the world, Fernando Botero is an iconic artist of our time, the one who has had the most museum exhibitions and the most books written about him. Master Fernando Botero is still active today.
