With his art he portrayed voluminous figures, creating a personal and unique style that was immediately recognizable. It is being considered by many parties.”the greatest Colombian artist of all time” and was a great lover of Italy. Fernando Botero, born on April 19, 1932 in Medellín, who died today at the age of 91, connected theby his reputation for a “plastic” style characterized by large shapes, matured since the 1950s, when, misunderstood by the Colombian cultural environment, he moved to Mexico, where he first discovered the possibility of expanding the forms of his creations. Botero, who died at his home in Monte Carlo, had been alone for several months since his wife, the artist of Greek origin Sophia Vari, with whom he had shared a passion for Tuscany, died last May.
This is a quality that becomes his “trademark” and characterizes his numerous works around the world. His career began when, still very young, he exhibited for the first time in Medellín in 1948. In 1952, with “On the Coast,” he won second prize at the 9th Salon of Colombian Artists, organized at the National Library of Bogota. A success that enabled him to receive a cash prize that he invested in his artistic training.
In fact, he travels through Europe: In Spain he visits the Prado Museum in Madrid, where he gets to know the works of Francisco Goya and Titian, among others. In Paris he encountered French avant-garde art and decided to become interested in the ancient painters. Arriving in Italy: a passion for our country that will return in full maturity He will decide to choose Pietrasanta in Tuscany as his adopted home and live there for a long time.
He traveled constantly between continents and returned to Latin America in 1958, where he received the professorship of painting at the Bogotá Academy of Art. The success was consolidated: with the work “La camera degli sposi” he received the first prize of the XI. Salons while exhibiting in Washington at the Gres Gallery that same year. Since 1959 it has been the period of studying the art of Diego Velázquez.
In 1966, after a stay in the United States, he continued his studies and perfected his art by organizing his first exhibition in Europe, more specifically in Germany, followed by a new exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Center. He began exhibiting both on the Old Continent and in the United States. In 1969 he went to Paris, where he settled in 1973 and continued to devote himself to sculpture. In 1983 he returned to Italy and opened a studio in Pietrasanta, Tuscany, where he lived for a few months a year.
He left numerous works to the city of Versilia, including two frescoes on the theme of Paradise and Hell in the church of Misericordia. His art attracts not only lovers, but also thieves: on October 21, 2007, seven bronze statues were stolen from his studio (“Adam”, “The Dog”, “Pintail Cat”, “Woman with her hand in her hair”, “Dressed Ballerina”). , “Dancer in Motion” and “Sparrow”) worth around 4 million euros. In May 2008, three of the statues were found and those responsible for the theft were arrested.
