Colombian artist Fernando Botero, who died last week, was looked down upon by the art world intelligentsia. Nonetheless, he had a massive global visibility and commercial success.
During my art school education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the early ’90s, our teachers made us study the history of painting ranging from the old masters to the Abstract Expressionists. We learned about various approaches to shape, texture, brushstroke and color. We memorized all of Guston’s and De Kooning’s paintings and looked at Baselitz, Tàpies, Richter and Kiefer.
And therein lies the conundrum with Botero: He was an artist largely spurned by the contemporary art world who nonetheless had a massive global visibility and commercial success.Visitors look at the painting “Una Familia” by Colombian artist Fernando Botero at the Botero Museum in Bogota. Artists who operate this way are looked down upon by the art world’s intelligentsia. The expectation is for artists to evolve, to take new formal or conceptual approaches as times change. To stick to the same strategy regardless of the period is seen as too easy, formulaic and predictable, and mainly a strategy to appeal to the market .
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Fernando Botero | ArtnetFernando Botero is a renowned Colombian painter and sculptor known for his volumetric stylization of figures and objects. His oeuvre ranges in subject matter such as daily life in Colombia, art historical references like the Mona Lisa, and abuses of power—all unified by Botero’s exaggeratedly rotund figures. This stylization, known as 'Boterismo', is often interpreted as a pointed social critique, as seen in his The Presidential Family (1967). “An artist is attracted to certain kinds of form without knowing why,” he reflected. “You adopt a position intuitively, only later do you attempt to rationalize or even justify it.” Born on April 19, 1932 in Medellín, Colombia, Botero grew up surrounded by Spanish colonial architecture as well as pre-Columbian artifacts. Initially schooled as a matador, the artist abandoned the profession after two years to pursue art. Traveling to Europe in the early 1950s, he copied works of Francisco de Goya and Diego Velázquez at the Prado Museum in Madrid and studied the paintings of Paolo Uccello and Piero della Francesca in Italy. In 1960, the artist moved to New York where he experimented with the gestural brushstrokes of the New York School painters of the time. This stylistic dalliance was short lived and by the 1970s Botero had settled into the technique for which he is now known. The artist currently lives and works between Paris, France, New York, NY, and Tuscany, Italy. His works are presently held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museo Botero in Bogotá which is dedicated to the artist and his oeuvre.
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Fernando Botero Passes Away at 91The beloved artist is survived by three children and thousands of works consisting both political critique and pastoral scenes of Colombia.
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Fernando Botero recibirá homenajes de cuerpo presente en ColombiaBOGOTÁ (AP) — Los restos del pintor y escultor Fernando Botero, quien falleció el viernes en Montecarlo, serán llevados a Colombia para recibir homemajes, señaló Juan Carlos Botero, uno de sus hijos.
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Fernando Botero recibirá homenajes de cuerpo presente en ColombiaLos restos del pintor y escultor Fernando Botero, quien falleció el viernes en Montecarlo, serán llevados a Colombia para recibir homemajes, señaló Juan Carlos Botero, uno de sus hijos.
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‘Emblematic of Latin American Art’—Works by Federico Botero Among Highlights of Christie’s SalesThe auction house is also holding its first selling exhibition with contemporary works by U.S. artists of Latin American and Caribbean descent
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Award winning Utah artist creates paintings to show pride, appreciation of Latin cultureZaida Machado is proud to call herself Latina; the vibrancy of her culture is showcased through her paintings.
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