Sunday, September 17, 2023

Fernando Botero (1932-2023)

View of Plaza Botero from the Metro Station in Medellin, Colombia in Smithsonian Magazine

Fernando Botero, who died earlier this week, was a very popular artist, whose paintings and sculpture were adored by many people — with the possible exception of art critics. His highly recognizable style involved depicting human and animal figures expanded beyond any naturalistic representation, but with an intriguing insight gained by making them large. After mentioning him yesterday, I wanted to see more images of his work, so I'm sharing them here.
 

Plaza Botgero in Medellin, Columbia. (Wikipedia)

Botero Sculpture (Source)

A story of a Botero sculpture in Medellin: 

“There is an eerie sculpture of Botero in the Parque San Antonio. It is his well-known bird sculpture in bronze, but there is massive damage to it. Vandalism, you think. But on June 10, 1995 a bomb was placed in or under the sculpture and exploded in the evening during a concert.  
 
“Around 23 people died, and a link was suspected to an arrest a day earlier of a leader of the Cali drug cartel. It was one of the many acts of violence in a city that had gotten used to it. Botero decided to leave the damaged sculpture in place, as an hommage to the deceased and a permanent place of remembrance. And he donated a new one, placed twenty metres apart, to illustrate the meaningless of violence.” (Source)
 
The damaged bird sculpture.

In contrast to the popularity of Botero’s seemingly cartoonish paintings, he was also a highly political and committed artist. Influenced by the muralists such as Diego Rivera, he often depicted the ordinary people of his native Columbia. His activism is reflected in several projects:

“In the 60s and 70s he produced a series of portraits of Latin American dictators in which the puffed-up size of the figures was a satirical reflection on their self-importance. Nor could he remain indifferent to the drug violence that made his home city at one time named the most dangerous in the world, especially when the drug kingpin Pablo Escobar dominated the trade. In 2004 Botero produced a series of paintings of him being hunted down and killed in 1993, as well as other scenes from the violence that gripped Colombia in the 90s. The most controversial of his more political works was the series he produced in 2004-05 of around 80 paintings and 100 drawings depicting the torture by US forces of prisoners in the Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq.” (source)


“Official Portrait of the Military Junta,” 1971.

Botero and his Work

From Botero obituary in the Guardian.

From Botero Obituary in the Washington Post.
 

From Botero Obituary on NPR
 
From Botero Obituary in the New York Times.
Blog post by mae sander.
Images as credited.
Shared with Sami’s Monday Murals.

18 comments:

  1. I recognize the round people, but I didn't know the name. Thanks for sharing this. I'm not trained in art so it's great to see and learn about artists I am not familiar with. Happy Sunday Mae. Hugs-Erika

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  2. What an intriguing person!

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  3. He was a serious activist, though his work looks blocky and lighthearted. I was surprised he just died -- thought he'd gone ages ago!

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  4. I saw a story about him this week. His art is definitely recognizable. I love it. I don't understand destroying something because you do not like it.

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  5. I'm not familiar with this artist but you're right, he has a VERY distinctive style. Thanks for once again teaching me something new!
    Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys

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  6. I recognize that artist! What I didn't know was his political activism, but I should have suspected because many artists in that region are politically active and represent that in their work. Very sad that he passed away. Thanks for sharing!

    Suzanne @ Chick with Books 

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  7. He was certainly a great artist and obviously well loved all over the world. I LOVE the cat. So glad you featured his work this week, Mae. It's really sad that his art had to be used in an act of violence. Donating a new sculpture and insisting on leaving the damaged one shows he believes in, and acts on, his beliefs.



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  8. I remember a Botero sculpture in a garden in Lisbon, https://kwarkito.blogspot.com/2016/05/grosse-fatigue.html
    I've also seen his paintings inspired by Abhou Graïb, which can be seen on the net.
    this gigantic mural in medellin is very beautiful

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  9. I'd never seen or heard of this artist work, so thank you for sharing!

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  10. His works are always a huge statement, and I like them very much. How sad to destroy something like that as a protest! Have a good start in the new week, Valerie

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  11. Fascinating. I can see the influence of Diego Rivera.

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  12. Wow, this was very, very interesting. I never knew of him. A clever artist. Drugs and violence... who needs that. Poor, proud standing bird.

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  13. A great artist he was. And a wonderful person so to read

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  14. Glad the damaged cat statue was left to show all the awfulness of violence.
    I would be petrified to live in Columbia.
    Very quirky works of art.
    Thanks for participating in Monday Murals Mae.

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  15. The Desert Botanical Garden, here in Phoenix is setting up an exhibit of his works right now. I can't wait to see it when it's complete. I was sorry to hear of his passing last week.

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  16. I can't believe I've never either seen (or noticed) his work. I like the people.

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  17. I like his people and animals. I don't know how I lasted this long never seeing (or at least noticing) his work.

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  18. These are beautiful! And there is something almost totemic about these characters rendered at such a breathtaking scale. I feel like I've seen this work before, but I never knew much about the artist. Thank you for this introduction.

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