Fernando Botero was born in 1932 in the city of Medellin, world famous for its drug cartel. His family lost their fortune, and his father died when the future artist was still very young. As a child, Fernando dreamed of becoming a bullfighter, but at the age of 15 he suddenly told his mother that he wanted to become an artist and nothing else. This did not fit into the plans of his conservative relatives, who believed that art could be a hobby, but not a profession. Despite this, Botero gradually made sure that his illustrations began to appear in the newspaper El Colombiano. He worked as an illustrator until 1951, when he decided to leave for Europe in search of new knowledge.
This was his first trip outside his homeland. He reached Spain by ship. Already in Madrid, he enrolled in the art school of San Fernando. After some time he came to Florence, where he studied at the Academy of St. Mark with Professor Bernard Berenson. There he became acquainted with the Italian Renaissance. Later, in 1952, Botero returned to his homeland, and arranged his first vernissage at the Leo Mathis Gallery.
In the same 1952, he took part in the competition of the National Art Salon, where his painting "By the Sea" won second place. But, in general, the young artist did not stand out among hundreds of his talented compatriots. His paintings were so heterogeneous that visitors at first thought that this was an exhibition of several artists. The range of artists who influenced his first paintings ranged from Paul Gauguin to the Mexican painters Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco. True, the young autodidact from the Andes town had never seen the original works of these artists, as, indeed, of others. His acquaintance with painting was limited to reproductions from books.
Until 1955, Botero painted mainly ordinary men, women and animals, then he had not yet discovered either the “fat women” or the monumental sculptures to which he owes his worldwide fame. They "came" as if by accident, when one day in "Still Life with a Mandolin" the instrument suddenly "fat" ridiculously. It was the moment of truth for Botero - he found his niche in art.
In 1964, Fernando married Gloria Cea, who subsequently bore him three children. Later they moved to Mexico, where they experienced great financial difficulties. This was followed by a divorce, and then the artist moved to New York. The money quickly ran out, and his knowledge of English left much to be desired. Then the artist remembered his "European" experience and began to copy the old masters.
At the same time, he worked on his own works, and soon, in 1970, he exhibited at the Marlborough Gallery. Thus began his worldwide fame. Botero returned to Europe, and this time his arrival was triumphant.
Now Botero creates in different countries of the world: in his house in Paris, he paints large canvases, spends the summer in Italy with his sons and grandchildren, creates sculptures, paints in watercolor and ink on the Cote d'Azur and in New York. Already, Botero's creative heritage is huge - it is almost 3 thousand paintings and more than 200 sculptures, as well as countless drawings and watercolors. In no other topic do Botero show voluminous forms as aggressively as in nude female images; no other motif of his artistic world remains so long in memory as these overweight figures with exaggeratedly full hips and legs. It is they who evoke the strongest feelings in the viewer: from rejection to admiration.
His conquest of Paris ended a fifteen-year struggle for success and turned him into one of the most important living artists in the world. In 1992, Jacques Chirac, then mayor of Paris, invited Botero to hold a solo exhibition on the Champs Elysees. No foreign artist has ever received such an honor before.
Since then, various cities around the world have been inviting Fernando Botero to decorate the holidays with his creativity. So it was in Madrid, New York, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Monte Carlo, Florence... Other cities have bought his works for very large sums, and many are standing in line.
His works are considered among the most expensive in the world, for example, his painting "Breakfast on the Grass" was sold for a million dollars. In Russia there is his sculptural composition "Still Life with Watermelon" (1976-1977). He donated it to the Hermitage, where it is exhibited in the Hall of European and American Art of the 20th Century.
Botero did not become a hermit, he always responds to what is happening in the world. Recently, he created a series of paintings that tell about the bullying of the US military over prisoners in the Iraqi prison "Abu Ghraib"
The Abu Ghraib series, according to Botero, continues the theme of cruelty and violence in the world. It consists of 48 paintings and drawings depicting naked prisoners being poisoned by dogs and beaten by jailers. The series first aired in Colombia in April 2005. Botero stated that the Abu Ghraib theme would continue. “I haven’t said everything I want to say about this yet. There are also plots of Afghan prisons, the American base of Guantanamo Bay in Cuba,” says the artist.
Fernando Botero Angulo (born April 19, 1932) is a Colombian figurative artist, sculptor, who calls himself "the most Colombian of Colombian artists", became famous after he won first prize at the "Exhibition of Colombian Artists" in 1959.
To celebrate his 80th birthday, Colombian artist Fernando Botero chose the quiet Italian town of Pietrasanta in northwestern Tuscany, in the foothills of the Apuan Alps, where he organized an exhibition of his work. Usually the master spends summer holidays in these places with his family every year. Here he is known and loved, so quite a lot of people came to see the sculptures of Fernando in an impromptu open-air gallery. The six monumental works of the master on Duomo Square looked like real giants; a dozen smaller works adorned the area around the church of San Agostino, next to which a cycle of watercolors created by the artist for his anniversary was exhibited in a special room.
It is difficult to say whether Botero's art is elitist or democratic. One thing is clear: his works speak of an exceptional originality of thinking and creative style, reminiscent of fantastic cartoons. By the name of the artist in his homeland, these paintings are called “boteros”, given their unique individual style. Both sculptures and painting equally require close examination, reflection, and getting used to.
Fernando Botero Angulo is his full name. The Colombian master is called a classic of figurative art of the grotesque-traditionalist direction, close to "naive". On his colorful canvases, kitsch and folk color coexist with the Italian Renaissance and colonial baroque. Fernando does not hide his passion for large forms, and it would be difficult to hide it; everything is fat with him - people, horses, dogs, trees. furniture, even apples. At the same time, impressive images are not devoid of sophistication and seem to float in a weightless space that is not subject to the law of gravity.
In general, exactly 100 works created at different times were presented at the celebration of the master's anniversary in Pietrasanta. Fernando's anniversary benefit performances were also held in other places: in the cities of Assisi, Bilbao, San Paolo, Mexico City, as well as in the master's homeland - in Colombian Medellin. Why did Italy become the outpost of the jubilee festivities?
“I'm crazy about Tuscany,” says the artist. - I love Italian culture, folks. I not only met many kind, good friends here, but also found my teachers, the great masters of the past. And if in Paris, for example, I prefer to create paintings, then in Tuscany I prefer to work on sculptures.”
In Italy, in Florence, he first came back in 1951 to study the fresco technique. Then he had no money at all, but this was compensated by an excess of fire in his soul. “I tended to spend money on museums and art albums rather than on restaurants and food,” the artist recalls. “Love for the great Italian masters changed my life overnight.”
Fernando Botero was born in the family of a businessman. Very soon, his family lost all their fortune, and his father died when the future artist was still very young. Botero was sent to a school where the priests of the Jesuit order taught. Strict, tough discipline left its mark on the child's psyche. Not being able to have fun and indulge in the usual boyish amusements, Fernando began to draw in order to somehow brighten up his life and give free rein to his wild imagination. He also had a dream - to become a bullfighter. In 1944, he really did attend a matador school for some time, fixing his impressions in the first drawings dedicated to bullfighting.
At the age of 15, he surprised his family with the news that he intended to become an artist - this did not fit into the rules of a conservative family at all, where art could be a hobby, but not a profession. Arriving in Bogota, he met with local avant-garde artists - artists of varying degrees of talent. As an illustrator, Fernando gets a job at the El Colombiano newspaper, but does not work in this position for long, in search of new knowledge and impressions, he went on a trip to Europe.
This was his first trip outside his homeland. He got to Spain by ship, and in Madrid, shocked by painting and enrolled in the art school of San Fernando. Then there was Florence, which became his second home. Here Botero studied at the Academy of St. The stamp is held by Professor Bernard Berenson.
In 1952 he returned to his homeland and organized his first vernissage at the Leo Mathis Gallery. Even then - and subsequently - the color of his work remained predominantly light. His first work, in which the exaggerated forms characteristic of his manner were used, was the 1955 painting “Still Life with a Mandolin”, where the instrument suddenly acquired unprecedented dimensions. It is believed that it was from this moment that Botero found his own style - a bizarre fusion of baroque, folk art, naive and kitsch.
Some of his works are freer in their style of writing, but in any case, the plots go back to classical, well-known images, although they invariably acquire a parodic character.
Objects and figures appear in his paintings and drawings emphatically lush, self-satisfied swollen, in a sleepy rest - this magical trance at times resembles a magical atmosphere drawn from the stories of Borges and the novels of Marquez. Despite the fact that Fernando most often turns to genre portraits, the theme of crime and military conflicts also appears in his work. The soft humor characteristic of his art is sometimes replaced by satire - anti-clerical or social. And in no other topic do Botero show voluminous forms as aggressively as in nude female images; it is they who evoke the strongest feelings in the viewer: from rejection to admiration.
Gradually, the artist gains popularity, including outside the homeland. The Museum of Modern Art in New York acquires the first painting by a Colombian. It was the painting "Mona Lisa at 12". In Washington and New York, several personal exhibitions of Botero are held with great success. He creates in different countries of the world: in Paris he paints large canvases, spends summers in Tuscany with his sons and grandchildren, creates huge sculptures, works in watercolor and ink on the Cote d'Azur, in New York he is fond of monumental painting and pastel...
The artist would have turned out to be much less famous if, in 1992, Jacques Chirac, then the mayor of Paris, had not been chosen as the main figure in an exclusive exhibition on the Champs Elysees, the Colombian Fernando Botero. No other painter has ever received such an honor (unless, of course, he was of French origin). Since then, various cities around the world have been inviting Fernando to give greater scope and color to their celebrations with the help of his works. At the same time, the artist achieves, so to speak, "fullness of style." His paintings are listed as one of the most expensive in the world. For example, "Breakfast on the Grass" - a paraphrase of the famous painting of the same name by the founder of impressionism, written by Fernando in 1969 - was sold at Sotheby's for $1 million.
The creative heritage of Botero is huge - almost 3 thousand paintings and more than 200 sculptures, as well as countless drawings and watercolors. At the same time, the Colombian giant is by no means an art merchant, who only puts price tags on his works. Against! The generosity of the artist is legendary. For example, he donated a collection of paintings estimated at $60 million to the Museum of Fine Arts of Bogota. The artist donated 18 sculptures and almost a hundred paintings to his native city, which formed the basis of the exposition of the Arts Square. Not without reason, according to the Semana magazine, influential in Colombia, Fernando Botero also entered the top ten most popular personalities. The artist also found a gift for the Slavic soul - "Still Life with Watermelon" (1976-1977) he presented to the St. Petersburg Hermitage, where the painting is shown in the Hall of European and American Art of the 20th century.
Who knows, maybe the spiritual generosity of the artist determined his creative style, a special attitude to art, where the world is presented in all contentment, excess of strength and splendor, flourishing and enthusiastic.
one of the most famous Latin American artists. His style and technique is called figurative. He depicts exceptionally fat people and fat people. In all his paintings, there are only complete characters, and all of them are people, horses, dogs, even objects and fruits. About his works, Fernando burns: "With forms, volumes, I try to influence people's feelings and sensuality, meaning by sensuality not only voluptuousness and eroticism." Indeed, his paintings and sculptures are quite unusual and make a different impression on everyone, but everyone who has ever seen his works will definitely never forget them.
Biography of Botero
Fernando was born on April 19, 1932 in the city of Medellin (Medellín), South America, in the province of Antigua. He himself calls this city the "Industrial Capital of Colombia". He was the second of three sons of David Botero (1895-1936) and Flora Angulo (1898-1972). His father was a traveling merchant and traveled through the mountainous, inaccessible region of the province, reaching the most distant places. His mother worked as a seamstress. Fernando's family lost their fortune, and his father died of a heart attack when Fernando was only 4 years old, leaving little Fernando and 2 of his brothers in the care of his mother. This sudden and tragic loss left Fernando in a state of loss, sadness and emptiness that he could never fill. Uncle Botero played an important role in his life. Today Medellin is a modern and large metropolis. In the early 1930s, it was a small provincial town where the Catholic Church played a significant role in the life of the people of the city. Fernando received his primary education in Antioquia (Antioquia is one of the departments of Colombia), at the Ateneo school and, thanks to a scholarship, he continued his secondary education at the Jesuit school of Bolivar (Bolivar is one of the departments of Colombia). In this school there was a fairly strict discipline and the teachers were priests of the Jesuit order. Perhaps such asceticism in upbringing prompted Fernando to draw and reveal his talent as an artist.
As a teenager, Fernando developed a lifelong love of bullfighting, which is so popular in South America. From the age of 13, he began to draw bullfights, depicting fights and their participants - bulls, bullfighters, matadors and picadors. Like many in South America, Fernando dreamed of becoming a bullfighter in his youth. In 1944, Botero's uncle sent him to a matador school where he studied for two years. But at the age of 15, Fernando suddenly told his mother that he wanted to become an artist and nothing else. This did not fit into the plans of his conservative relatives at all, who believed that art could be a hobby, but not a profession.
In 1948, Botero, aged 16, published his first illustrations in the Sunday supplement "El Colombiano", one of the most influential newspapers in Medellin. He used the proceeds to attend high school at the Marinilla Lyceum in Antioquia. At the age of 17, Fernando wrote the article "Picasso and non-conformism in art" where he talked about surrealism and abstract painting. Fernando first exhibited his work in 1948, at a group exhibition along with other artists from the region.
From 1949 to 1950 Botero worked as a stage designer before he was able to organize his first exhibition in Bogotá.
In 1951, already at the age of 19, he had his first personal exhibition and sale of paintings at the Leo Matiz gallery (Bogotá). Each of his works has been sold.
Like many artists, Botero went to Europe to study European schools of painting and the works of masters. In 1952, Botero traveled with a group of artists to Barcelona, where he stayed briefly before moving to Madrid. In Madrid, Botero studied at the San Fernando Art Academy where he began to create works in the style of Velasquez and Francisco Goya. Then he returned to his homeland in the city of Bogota, where he had a solo exhibition. In the same year, he took part in the competition of the National Art Salon, where his painting "By the Sea" won second place.
In 1953, Botero moved to Paris, where he spent most of his time at the Louvre, studying art.
From 1953 to 1954 he lived in Florence, Italy and studied at the Academy of St. Mark the works of the Renaissance masters and the fresco painting techniques of the Italian masters of that era.
In 1956, Fernando studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Bogotá. Fernando traveled throughout South America and visited Mexico where he studied the work of Diego Rivera and Orozco. In Mexico, his work was strongly influenced by large painted murals on the walls of buildings.
Until 1955, Botero painted in the usual classical manner and his objects were not exaggerated. For the first time, the increase in forms occurred in the still life "Mandolin", where the musical instrument was depicted as unusually swollen. So Fernando managed to find his unique niche in art. Botero's own, peculiar style was finally formed around 1964. These were images of people, animals, trees, still lifes, characterized by swollen forms and almost invisible, as if varnished, the surface of the paintings.
In 1964, Fernando married Gloria Cea, who subsequently bore him three children. Later they moved to Mexico, where they experienced great financial difficulties. This was followed by a divorce, and the artist moved to New York, where in 1969 Fernando Botero held a large exhibition of his work called "Inflated Images" at the Museum of Modern Art, which acquires the first canvas of the Colombian - the painting "Mona Lisa at 12". This exhibition cemented his reputation as an artist. In 1970, Botero exhibited his works at the Marlborough Gallery, New York, and it can be said that his world fame began with this coin.
In the works of Botero, we see an unusual mixture of elements of the Italian and Spanish Renaissance-Baroque, and at the same time the Latin American Baroque, together with iso-folklore and kitsch in the style of "naive art" and features of primitivism. His work often reminds people of the work of the famous Colombian - Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In his paintings, Fernando also parodies and copies in exaggerated forms paintings from different periods of art, including paintings by Bonnard and Jacques-Louis David. At different periods in his paintings, the influence of Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, the art of the Indian tribes of Central and South America, especially the sculpture of the Olmecs, is noticeable. His paintings have also been compared to those of Peter Paul Rubens, which Botero has always admired. Botero wrote that in the works of Rubens - "we see a world of carnal exaggeration, excess, splendor of life, forms and contentment, a world where the holy and secular, blasphemous exist side by side ..". Fernando's work is always overblown and exaggerated and often comes across as satire. Persons of power and strength, images of presidents, soldiers and priests are often present in his paintings and are the target for Fernando Botero. Especially brightly and aggressively Botero shows voluminous forms in nude female images. It is these overweight figures with exaggeratedly full hips and legs that evoke the strongest feelings in the viewer - from rejection to admiration. Botero himself once said: "In art, as long as we can create and think, we are forced to distort nature. Art is always a distortion."
At the moment, the number of Botero's works is quite large - it is almost 3 thousand paintings and more than 200 sculptures, as well as countless drawings and watercolors. Since 1973, Botero has been increasingly involved in sculpture, reflecting in it all the same hypertrophied and magnificent figures of people and animals. Botero's characters don't seem "puffed out", they look really heavy and petrified. That is why the Colombian master is famous for his sculpture no less than painting: bronze and marble are the most successful materials for his monumental figures. His works adorn the famous cities of the world (Medellin, Bogota, Paris, Lisbon, etc.) in the form of non-standard heroic-comic monuments.
In 1992, Jacques Chirac, then mayor of Paris, invited Botero to hold a solo exhibition on the Champs Elysees. No foreign artist in France had received such an honor before. After that, different cities of the world began to invite Fernando to participate in various exhibitions on the occasion of the festivities, so that the artist would give more scope and color to these celebrations with his works.
Botero's generosity knows no bounds and is legendary in Colombia. So, to the Museum of Fine Arts of Bogota, he donated a collection of paintings worth 60 million dollars. The artist donated 18 sculptures to his native city of Medellin, from those shown at exhibitions in Madrid, Paris, New York, Chicago, and almost a hundred paintings that formed the basis of the exposition of the Arts Square. In total, the artist's gifts to Colombian collections exceeded $100 million. The Semana magazine, influential in Colombia, named Fernando Botero in the top ten most popular personalities. Botero presented his sculpture in bronze Still Life with Watermelon (1976-1977) to the St. Petersburg Hermitage and it is on display in the Hall of European and American Art of the 20th Century.
Fernando Botero now lives in Paris and works in different parts of the world. His works have made Botero one of the most important living artists in the world. By the way, his work is considered one of the most expensive in the world. For example, "Breakfast on the Grass" - a paraphrase of the famous painting of the same name by the founder of impressionism Edouard Manet, written by Fernando in 1969 - was sold at Sotheby's for $1 million.
Fernando Botero celebrated his 80th birthday (2012) in the quiet Italian town of Pietrasanta ( Pietrasanta) in northwestern Tuscany ( ital. Tuscany), in the foothills of the Apuan Alps ( ital. Alpi Apuane), where he organized an exhibition of his creations. This city for the artist is a favorite place for summer holidays with the family. Here he is known and loved, and many people came to see the sculptures of Fernando in an impromptu open-air gallery. The master presented six monumental works in Piazza Duomo, which looked like real giants, and a dozen smaller works that adorned the space around the church of San Agostino, next to which a cycle of watercolors created by the artist for his anniversary was exhibited in a special room.
Sculptures by Fernando Botero rus_lynx wrote on August 23rd, 2014
Original taken from rus_lynx in Sculptures by Fernando Botero
I got acquainted with the work of Fernando Botero half a year ago, when I was in the lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami. The gaze did not just accidentally fall on the bronze sculptures, it was literally captured by them. Huge monumental figures were the main decoration of the lobby: majestic, calm, admirable. Did they cause fear? Not at all. On the contrary, there was a feeling of tenderness and sympathy.
Judge for yourself:
I had never seen anything like it before, and, seized with passion, I began to search for information about the sculptor.
Fernando Botero is a Colombian sculptor who lives to this day. He studied at art schools in Spain and Italy, one of his favorite artists was Velasquez (perhaps it was he who influenced the fact that his sculptures and paintings express restraint, prompting us to discover what is hidden behind the outer shell).
Botero at the first stages of his creative path did not have a specific style and painted pictures of different styles. His search for himself reminds me of the early Picasso, when he, drawing from early childhood, tried different styles until he found his own, such a recognizable style that brought him world fame. So Botero, who came from a poor family, was looking for his own way and finally found his inimitable style in depicting people and objects as if swollen, puffed up, static.
World-wide fame came to Botero when, along with painting, he began to create sculptures "in the style of Botero": huge, bronze statues expressing a state of peace. Now his statues are worth millions of dollars and the famous cities of the world are in line to purchase his sculptures to decorate city parks and squares.
I think it is this "signature" state of detachment and peace, along with grotesque amazing forms, that makes his work so popular. And that is why it resonated in my soul - his figures seem to be in a state of meditation, which means peace and harmony. That is, they are in the very state to which I aspire, listening to my inner feelings, doing yoga and searching for myself and my path. If you look at these statues, then breathing gradually becomes even and calm. And you suddenly discover the meaning of life - it is in harmony. And harmony is in peace.
The lines of Omar Khayyam surfaced in my memory:
Whoever understands life is no longer in a hurry,
Savors every moment and observes
As a child sleeps, an old man prays,
How it rains and how the snowflakes melt.
Sees beauty in the ordinary
In a confusing simple solution,
He knows how to make a dream come true
He loves life and believes in Sunday
He realized that happiness is not in money,
And their number will not save from grief,
But who lives with a titmouse in his hands,
He definitely won't find his firebird
Who understood life, he understood the essence of things,
That only death is more perfect than life,
What to know, without being surprised, is more terrible,
Something not to know and not to be able to.
Fernando Botero is one of the most famous painters and sculptors of Colombian origin. His work is of considerable importance for modern culture and art. This extraordinary person and his works will be discussed in the article.
Millions of people today admire his work, but the path to fame and success was by no means easy. But the painter went to his happiness, overcoming difficulties step by step. Today he has reached what he has been going for so long, but he does not stop there, but continues to discover more and more new facets in himself.
Fernando Botero: a short biography
The future artist and the whole world, was born on 04/19/1932 in the Colombian city of Medellin, which is famous all over the world for drug trafficking.
From an early age, he began to show interest in art, but in a family with a conservative lifestyle, everyone was skeptical about his hobby. When a fifteen-year-old youth announced that he intended to become an artist, his mother and the rest of the household were opposed to this. They believed that art could be something like a hobby, but not a way to earn a living.
However, Fernando Botero was determined and began to develop, improving his skills in his favorite business. Soon he managed to get a position as an illustrator in the local print publication El Colombiano, where he worked in this position until 1951.
Travel to Europe
Then Fernando decides to go to Europe to gain new knowledge and experience. In Madrid, he underwent a short-term study at an art school.
Then he went to Florence, where he attended training sessions with Bernard Bernson, a famous professor and American scientist. In Italy, he met with the European Renaissance, which he had previously known only by hearsay.
Traveling around Europe dragged on for about a year, and in 1952 Botero returned to his homeland. During this time, he received a lot of new impressions and emotions, got acquainted with European art and history, gained new knowledge in the field of art, painting techniques, etc.
Of course, in just a year he did not have time to turn from an inexperienced self-taught artist into a professional, but the knowledge gained in this journey helped him form his own style in the future.
Artist Fernando Botero
Upon returning to his homeland, the novice sculptor and artist arranges his first solo exhibition, which worked at the L. Matisse gallery.
In 1952, he participated in a competition organized by the National Art. Columbia salon. It featured his painting "By the Sea", which won the 2nd prize.
But at the beginning of his career, Fernando Botero, whose works did not yet have a personal, unique style, did not stand out too much from the general mass of young artists. Having visited his debut exhibition, many visitors did not even realize that these were paintings by one artist, considering them to be the work of different people.
At that time, completely different painters influenced his work: P. Gauguin, D. Rivera, the Impressionists and others. In addition, he did not have the opportunity to get acquainted with their work in reality, so he limited himself to illustrative reproductions.
Formation of an individual style
Until the mid 50s. Fernando Botero, whose paintings had only recently begun to attract interest, did not have the distinct personal style for which he is known today. Then he portrayed fairly standard people and animals, which were not much different from those that were in the paintings of other artists.
Familiar to a modern art lover, "fatties" became his calling card by pure chance. When the artist painted his "Still Life with Mandolin", the musical instrument turned out to be too bloated. This amused both the artist himself and the audience. Thus, Botero's signature style was born, which he liked.
From now on, the Colombian painted only ridiculously inflated images of people, animals and objects.
World fame
Having married Gloria Sia, the artist moved to live in Mexico, but their marriage did not last long. After the divorce, he moves to New York. Poor command of English and lack of money prompted him to write copies of the works of famous artists.
In parallel, the artist painted his own paintings. Thanks to this, in 1970 he exhibited his paintings at the Marlborough Gallery. The exhibition becomes successful, and the return to Europe is victorious.
Since then, Botero has become a well-known and prominent Colombian contemporary artist.
The modern stage of creativity
The works of Fernando Botero are highly valued today, which allows him to travel a lot and earn a living with his favorite business. The artist has a house in Paris, where he paints mostly large canvases. On the Mediterranean coast of France, the creator not only loves to relax with his family, but also pursues his other hobby, in addition to painting. It is here that the sculptor Fernando Botero is revealed to the world. The creations of the master, like paintings, are distinguished by grotesque volume.
He also often visits New York, where he also works.
Fernando Botero in 1992 received an invitation himself (then he was the mayor of Paris) to carry out a personal exhibition on the Champs Elysees, where no foreign artist had previously been invited.
Today, Botero travels around the world, showing his works. He is one of the most outstanding painters and sculptors of our time.
Paintings
Of contemporary artists, Fernando is by far one of the highest paid. His paintings at art auctions and exhibitions are sold for fabulous sums. For example, the painting "Breakfast on the Grass" in 1969 in the art market was sold for 1 million US dollars.
He also visited Russia, moreover, the Hermitage has a sculptural group, which the master personally presented to the museum. It's called "Still Life with Watermelon".
The artist has always been worried about everything that is happening in the world. He could not be indifferent and at the beginning of the 2000s of the 21st century he created a series of paintings "Abu Ghraib", where he clearly showed how cruelly Americans treat Arab captives and prisoners in an Iraqi prison. For the first time, these creations saw the light in Colombia in the spring of 2005.
Fernando Botero, whose sculptures and paintings are in great demand today, said that he had not yet completed this series of works, which now numbered about 50 creations. According to him, he still has something to say on this topic, because he did not reveal stories related to Afghanistan, Cuba (Guantanamo), etc.
Imitation, or rather, remaking famous paintings in your own way is a kind of "trick" of Fernando Botero. "Mona Lisa" performed by a Colombian is a vivid example of the stylization of a world-famous work.
famous paintings
Among the most popular and significant of his works, one can distinguish the canvas "Adam and Eve", where the figures of biblical heroes are depicted from the back. They are both naked and made in the artist's traditional "bloated" manner. Adam reaches for the forbidden fruit, and on the branches of the tree, a snake-tempter can be seen.
In 1990, he painted the painting "At the Window", which depicts a naked plump woman standing at an open window. The artist has a special passion for depicting nude female nature. Moreover, his craving for inflated forms reaches its climax when he depicts the female body.
The painting "Letter" (1976) depicts a fat woman lying in bed without clothes. It is obvious that the girl had just read the letter, which plunged her into deep thought. She looks distantly somewhere to the side, holding a letter in her hand, and next to her lie the fruits of citrus trees.
One of his most famous works is the 1969 painting "Breakfast on the Grass", which depicts a man and a woman sitting on a picnic under the canopy of trees. At the same time, the man lies without clothes, smoking a cigarette, and the girl is dressed and sits next to him. Food, fruits and a basket are laid out on the tablecloth.
sculptures
As in painting, in sculpture Fernando Botero also adheres to the figurative style. He created a large number of sculptures in different cities of the world. Today this is a new trend, every major city in the world considers it fashionable to place the works of this master on their streets. The artist receives so many offers from the authorities of various cities, major collectors and cultural organizations that he cannot cope with the flow of orders, so he takes only the most interesting and profitable ones.
Among the most famous sculptural works of Fernando Botero "The Abduction of Europe" takes first place. This composition is located in the capital of Spain and was created based on the famous ancient Greek myth about Zeus and Europe, which he abducted by turning into a bull.
Of course, this work is done in a typical style for the author. A naked girl (Europe) with a magnificent figure sits on the back of a large muscular bull. She proudly straightens her hair, demonstrating confidence in herself and her beauty. This sculpture is today considered a landmark of Madrid, to which millions of tourists flock every year.
Also very famous is another work of Fernando Botero - the sculpture "Gentleman in a bowler hat". Also world-famous is his sculpture of a naked girl lying on her stomach, which is located on a square in the Danish capital - the city of Copenhagen.
Contribution to culture
The works of Fernando Botero today are in such great demand that even for the largest cities and museums in the world to become the owners of at least one of his works is a great honor and good fortune. There is a real hunt for works, not only does he not need to look for customers or buyers for his works, but on the contrary, the artist has no end to those who want to touch art.
Botero is very hardworking and active, creating dozens of creations every year. The more he creates, the more popular his work becomes. Such a phenomenal success can be envied by many eminent artists and sculptors. At the same time, the artist remains true to himself, not succumbing to the opinion of the masses and pressure from critics. He simply creates what he likes, putting his soul into his works.
Today, his sculptures are in almost all major cities and capitals of European countries, as well as in America and in the artist's homeland, Colombia. Due to age, he has now become less productive, but still continues to work constantly.
Conclusion
Fernando Botero is an example of how a person who was born far from the centers of world art, without proper education in this area, without the support of loved ones, managed to achieve dizzying success thanks to his talent, perseverance and irresistible craving to create.
As soon as the artist found his own style, different from the general mass, to show individuality, people began to be interested in his work. The people reached out to his paintings and sculptures, art lovers began to speak very well of him, arguing that Botero is one of the best creators of our time.
The world was interested in his works. Today, the fame of Botero's work thunders especially in Europe, North and South America. In Colombia, the creator is rightfully considered a national hero.
