Editing Fernando Botero

{{Short description|Colombian painter and sculptor (1932–2023)}}
{{Family name hatnote|[[Botero]]|[[Angulo]]|lang=Spanish}}
{{For|the Colombian politician|Fernando Botero Zea}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox artist
| name             = Fernando Botero
| image            = Fernando Botero (2018).jpg
| caption          = Botero in 2018
| birth_name       = Fernando Botero Angulo<ref>Botero, Fernando, and Cynthia Jaffee McCabe. 1979. ''Fernando Botero: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution''. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 20. OCLC 5680128</ref>
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=y|1932|4|19}}
| birth_place      = [[Medellín]], Colombia
| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=y|2023|9|15|1932|4|19}}
| death_place      = [[Monte Carlo]], Monaco
| spouse           = {{plainlist|
{{marriage|{{ill|v=ib|Gloria Zea|es}}|1955|1960|reason=divorce}}
{{marriage|[[Cecilia Zambrano]]|1964|1975|reason = divorce}}}}
{{marriage|[[Sophia Vari]]|1978|5 May 2023|reason = died}}
| children         = 4, Lina, Juan Carlos, [[Fernando Botero Zea|Fernando]] and Pedro (Died. 1974<ref>País, El (2023-09-15). "La triste historia de Pedrito, el hijo del artista Fernando Botero y de su segunda esposa, la caleña Cecilia Zambrano". Noticias de Cali, Valle y Colombia - Periodico: Diario El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-02-23.</ref>)
| field            = {{hlist|Painter|sculptor}}
| training         = 
| movement         = 
| works            = {{plainlist|
* ''Mona Lisa, Age Twelve'' (1959)
* ''Pope Leo X (after Raphael)'' (1964)
* ''The Presidential Family'' (1967)
* ''The Dancers'' (1987)
* ''Death of Pablo Escobar'' (1999)
* ''[[La paloma de la paz]]'' (2016)}}
| patrons          = 
| awards           = 
| signature        = Botero Signature.jpg
}}

'''Fernando Botero Angulo''' (19 April 1932 – 15 September 2023)<ref name="GuardianObit"/> was a Colombian [[figurative art]]ist and sculptor.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web |title=Fernando Botero |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fernando-Botero |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |date=15 September 2023 |access-date=16 September 2023 |language=en}}</ref> His signature style, also known as "Boterismo", depicts people and figures in large, exaggerated volume, which can represent political criticism or humor, depending on the piece. He was considered the most recognized and quoted artist from Latin America in his lifetime,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/08/international/americas/08botero.html |title='Great Crime' at Abu Ghraib Enrages and Inspires an Artist |date=8 May 2005 |work=The New York Times |access-date=27 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.revistaenie.clarin.com/arte/pintura/Fernando-Botero-MNBA_0_934106624.html |title=Fernando Botero, el aprendiz eterno |first=Marina |last=Oyb |date=10 June 2013 |access-date=27 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.elsiglodetorreon.com.mx/noticia/725150.fernando-botero-el-gran-artista-de-latinoamerica.html |title=Fernando Botero, el gran artista de Latinoamérica |first=NOTIMEX / EL SIGLO DE |last=TORREÓN |date=April 2012 |access-date=27 October 2016}}</ref> and his art can be found in highly visible places around the world, such as [[Park Avenue]] in New York City and the [[Champs-Élysées]] in Paris, at different times.<ref name="CongdonHallmark2002">{{cite book |author1=Kristin G. Congdon |author2=Kara Kelley Hallmark |title=Artists from Latin American Cultures: A Biographical Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h1oeV7vkPQIC&pg=PA40 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-313-31544-2|pages=40}}</ref>

Self-styled "the most Colombian of Colombian artists",<ref>{{cite news |last1=Luna |first1=Alberto G. |title=Fernando Botero, el pintor de las figuras rechonchas que se reía de la alta burguesía |url=https://www.elconfidencial.com/cultura/2023-09-15/fernando-botero-pintor-figuras-rechonchas_3736025/ |access-date=15 September 2023 |work=El Confidencial |date=15 September 2023}}</ref> Botero came to national prominence when he won the first prize at the [[Salón de Artistas Colombianos]] in 1958. He began creating sculptures after moving to Paris in 1973, achieving international recognition with exhibitions around the world by the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sna40.com/general/datoshistoricos.htm|title=40 Salon nacional de artistas|access-date=27 October 2016|archive-date=25 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125184134/http://www.sna40.com/general/datoshistoricos.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.biography.com/artist/fernando-botero |title=Fernando Botero |website=Biography |date=2 April 2014 |access-date=15 November 2019}}</ref> His art is collected by many major international museums, corporations, and private collectors, sometimes selling for millions of dollars.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Post |first=Special to The Denver |date=2006-05-24 |title=Botero painting sets auction record |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2006/05/24/botero-painting-sets-auction-record/ |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=The Denver Post |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2012, he received the [[International Sculpture Center]]'s Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marlboroughgallery.com/news/fernando-botero-receives-the-lifetime-achievement-award-from-the-international-sculpture-center |title=Marlborough Gallery – Fernando Botero Receives the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sculpture Center |last=www.marlboroughgallery.com |first=Marlborough Gallery |website=marlboroughgallery.com |access-date=3 August 2017}}</ref>

==Biography==

===Early life===
Fernando Botero was born in [[Medellín]] on 19 April 1932.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://efe.com/cultura/2023-09-15/fernando-botero-maestro-de-las-tradiciones-colombianas-y-un-artista-universal/|title=Fernando Botero, maestro de las tradiciones colombianas y un artista universal|date=15 September 2023|work=[[Agencia EFE]]|language=es}}</ref> His father, David Botero, <ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Brennan |first=Carol |title=Contemporary Hispanic Biography |publisher=Gale |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7876-6539-5 |volume=2 |location=Detroit, MI |pages=43-46}}</ref> a salesman who traveled by horseback, died when Fernando was four.<ref name=GuardianObit /> His mother, Flora Angulo, '''<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Brennan |first=Carol |title=Contemporary Hispanic Biography |publisher=Gale |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7876-6539-5 |volume=2 |location=Detroit, MI |pages=43-46}}</ref>''' worked as a [[seamstress]] to support the family.<ref name="GuardianObit">{{cite news |last1=Caistor |first1=Nick |title=Fernando Botero obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/sep/15/fernando-botero-obituary |access-date=15 September 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=15 September 2023}}</ref> An uncle took a major role in his life.<ref name=GuardianObit /> Although isolated from art as presented in museums and other cultural institutes, Botero was influenced by the [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] style of the colonial churches and the city life of [[Medellín]] while growing up.<ref>[http://www.boterosa.org/biography/boteros_early_life.html "Botero's Early Life"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090715174830/http://www.boterosa.org/biography/boteros_early_life.html |date=15 July 2009}}, BoteroSA</ref>

Botero received his primary education at the Ateneo Antioqueño and, thanks to a scholarship, he continued his secondary education at the Jesuit School of Bolívar.<ref name="Sillevis2006">{{cite book |author=John Sillevis |title=The Baroque World of Fernando Botero |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rlDfPIgeK3YC&pg=PA8 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-300-12359-3}}</ref> In 1944, Botero's uncle sent him to a school for [[matadors]] for two years.<ref>[http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/biography.aspx?searchtype=BIO&artist=9000119 "Fernando Botero"], AskArt</ref> Some of his earlier drawings were inspired by the bullfight scene. He sold his first painting for two [[Colombian peso|pesos]], thanks to a merchant who allowed him to display it in the window of his shop.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fernando Botero |url=https://www.christies.com/en/artists/fernando-botero?lotavailability=All&sortby=relevance |website=Christie's |access-date=5 March 2024}}</ref><ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last=Brennan |first=Carol |title=Contemporary Hispanic Biography |publisher=Gale |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7876-6539-5 |volume=2 |location=Detroit, MI |pages=43-46}}</ref> He spoke with the ''Los Angeles Times'', during an interview in November  2000, and explained that he lost the money he got for the painting and thus, his brothers never believed him.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Darling |first=Juanita |date=2000-11-02 |title=Softening the Face of Medellin |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-02-mn-45891-story.html |access-date=2024-02-23 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> His love of drawing nudes caused problems with his Roman Catholic education. He was expelled from school after defending Pablo Picasso’s art in an essay. <ref name=":03" /> In 1948, Botero at the age of 16 had his first illustrations published in the Sunday supplement of ''[[El Colombiano]]'', one of the most important newspapers in Medellín. He used the money he was paid to attend high school at the Liceo de Marinilla de Antioquia.<ref name="Infobae-Villantoy">{{cite news |last1=Villantoy |first1=Abigail |title=La muestra itinerante de Fernando Botero que llegó a Lima en 2006 y la influencia del artista en la ópera peruana |url=https://www.infobae.com/peru/2023/09/15/fernando-botero-su-muestra-itinerante-que-llego-a-lima-en-2006-y-la-influencia-del-artista-en-la-opera-peruana/ |access-date=17 September 2023 |agency=Infobae |date=15 September 2023}}</ref>

===Career===
Botero's work was first exhibited in 1948, in a group show along with other artists from the region.<ref name=ArtFact>[http://www.artfact.com/artist/botero-fernando-kog6td69zv "Fernando Botero"], ArtFact</ref> From 1949 to 1950, Botero worked as a set designer, before moving to [[Bogotá]] in 1951. Young Botero also worked as a newspaper [[illustrator]] to support his artistic interests and before attending San Fernando Academy. The [[Pérez Art Museum]] Miami acquired a still life picture of Botero's early days of career depicting apples, an influence of European art historical movements and 20th-century painters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manzanas (Apples) • Pérez Art Museum Miami |url=https://www.pamm.org/en/artwork/2012.22 |access-date=6 September 2023 |website=Pérez Art Museum Miami |language=en-US}}</ref> His first one-man show was held at the Galería Leo Matiz in Bogotá, a few months after his arrival.<ref>{{cite news |title=¿Quién es Fernando Botero y por qué su obra es tan importante? |url=https://aristeguinoticias.com/1509/kiosko/quien-es-fernando-botero-y-por-que-su-obra-es-tan-importante/ |access-date=17 September 2023 |agency=Aristegui Noticias |date=15 September 2023}}</ref>

In 1952, using his gallery earnings, Botero sailed to Europe. He arrived in [[Barcelona]] and then moved on to [[Madrid]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Fernando Botero: Biography of Fernando Botero |url=https://www.theartstory.org/artist/botero-fernando/ |website=The Art Story |access-date=17 September 2023}}</ref> In Madrid, Botero studied at the [[Royal Academy of San Fernando|Academia de San Fernando]] and was a frequent visitor to the [[Prado Museum]], where he copied works by [[Francisco Goya|Goya]] and [[Diego Velázquez|Velázquez]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hanstein |first1=Mariana |title=Fernando Botero |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKsiMxOBllIC&pg=PA15 |publisher=Taschen |date=2003 |page=15 |isbn=9783822821299 |access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref> He sold his copies on the streets to make money.<ref name=":04">{{Cite book |last=Brennan |first=Carol |title=Contemporary Hispanic Biography |publisher=Gale |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7876-6539-5 |volume=2 |location=Detroit, MI |pages=43-46}}</ref> 

In 1953, Botero moved to Paris, where he spent most of his time in the [[Louvre]], studying the works there. He lived in [[Florence]] from 1953 to 1954, studying the works of Renaissance masters.<ref name="ArtFact"/> Later in life, he lived most of the time in Paris, but spent one month a year in his native city of Medellín. He had more than 50 exhibitions in major cities worldwide, and his work commands selling prices in the millions of dollars.<ref name=Gibson /> In 1958, he won the ninth edition of the [[Salón de Artistas Colombianos]].<ref name=Dinero>[http://www.dinero.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?idArt=15098 "El poder en Colombia: Los cien personajes mas influyentes de Colombia"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027103119/http://www.dinero.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?idArt=15098 |date=27 October 2009 }}, InfoArt, ''Dinero'', 1 May 1995</ref>

Around 1964, Botero made his first attempts to create sculptures.<ref name="ByV">{{cite web |last1=Fernández |first1=Tomás |last2=Tamaro |first2=Elena |title=Fernando Botero: Biografía |url=https://www.biografiasyvidas.com/reportaje/fernando_botero/ |website=Biografías y Vidas. La enciclopedia biográfica en línea |access-date=17 September 2023 |location=Barcelona |date=2004}}</ref>
Due to financial constraints preventing him from working with bronze, he made his sculptures with acrylic resin and sawdust. A notable example during this time was ''Small Head (Bishop)'' in 1964, a sculpture painted with great realism. The material was too porous, so he abandoned this method.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hanstein |first1=Mariana |title=Fernando Botero |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKsiMxOBllIC&pg=PA15 |publisher=Taschen |date=2003 |page=89 |isbn=9783822821299 |access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref> He returned to sculpture "with enthusiasm" in Italy in the mid-1970s and exhibited his characteristic bronze sculptures for the first time at the [[Grand Palais]] in Paris in 1977.<ref name="ByV"/> He exhibited selected paintings, drawings, and sculptures at [[Louis Stern Fine Arts|Louis Stern Galleries]] in Beverly Hills in 1992.

On 10 June 1995, while his son [[Fernando Botero Zea]] was serving as [[Minister of National Defence (Colombia)|Minister of Defence]], a bomb containing 10 kg of dynamite was placed underneath one of Botero's bronze sculptures on display in Medellín's Plaza San Antonio. The resulting explosion killed 23 people and injured 200 more; the perpetrators were never identified.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rohter |first1=Larry |title=Bomb in Medellin, Colombian Drug City, Kills 30 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/12/world/bomb-in-medellin-colombian-drug-city-kills-30.html |access-date=17 September 2023 |work=New York Times |date=12 June 1995}}</ref> A horrified Botero decided that the damaged sculpture should be left in place as a "monument to the country's imbecility and criminality" and donated an intact replica to stand alongside it.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ortiz |first1=Luis |title=El día que terroristas dinamitaron la paloma de la paz de Fernando Botero en Medellín y la obra que el artista le dedicó a la "imbecilidad" |url=https://www.infobae.com/colombia/2023/09/15/la-historia-de-como-terroristas-dinamitaron-la-escultura-de-fernando-botero-a-la-paz-en-medellin-y-el-contramonumento-que-el-artista-le-dedico-a-la-imbecilidad/ |access-date=17 September 2023 |agency=Infobae |date=17 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title="Es un recuerdo de la imbecilidad y de la criminalidad de Colombia": la historia de la escultura de Botero destrozada por una bomba que se convirtió en un símbolo de la paz |url=https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/cd1g5e2009zo |access-date=17 September 2023 |agency=BBC Mundo |date=15 September 2023}}</ref>  

In 2004, Botero exhibited a series of 27 drawings and 23 paintings dealing with the violence in Colombia from 1999 through 2004. He donated the works to the [[National Museum of Colombia]], where they were first exhibited.<ref name="Masters">[http://greatmastersofart.com/fernando_botero_donation.html "Fernando Botero: Donation and Controversy"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501080155/http://greatmastersofart.com/fernando_botero_donation.html |date=1 May 2011}}, Great Masters of Art. Retrieved 20 September 2010</ref>

[[File:Abughraib.jpg|thumb|''Abu Ghraib'', 2005, oil on canvas. Botero painted the [[Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse|abuses of Abu Ghraib]] between 2004 and 2005 as a permanent accusation.]]
In 2005, Botero gained considerable attention for his ''Abu Ghraib'' series, which was exhibited first in Europe. He based the works on [[Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse|reports of United States forces' abuses of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison]] during the [[Iraq War]]. Beginning with an idea he had had on a plane journey, Botero produced more than 85 paintings and 100 drawings in exploring this concept<ref>[http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20050413_2.htm "Abu Ghraib"], ZonaEuropa, 13 April 2005</ref> and "painting out the poison".<ref name="Gibson" /> The series was exhibited at two United States locations in 2007, including Washington, DC. Botero said he would not sell any of the works, but would donate them to museums.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110200652.html Erica Jong, Review: "Botero Sees the World's True Heavies at Abu Ghraib"], ''The Washington Post'', 4 November 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2010</ref> In 2009, the [[Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive|Berkeley Art Museum]] acquired (as a gift from the artist) 56 paintings and drawings from the ''Abu Ghraib'' series, which can be seen online.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://webapps.cspace.berkeley.edu/bampfa/search/search/?keyword=botero&keyword_qualifier=keyword&displayType=grid&maxresults=100&start=1|title=Art Collection – CollectionSpace|website=webapps.cspace.berkeley.edu}}</ref> Selections from the series have been regularly included in the museum's annual Art for Human Rights exhibitions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bampfa.org/program/permanent-accusation-art-human-rights|title=Permanent Accusation: Art for Human Rights|website=bampfa.org|date=5 February 2019 }}</ref>

In 2006, after having focused exclusively on the ''Abu Ghraib'' series for over 14 months, Botero returned to the themes of his early life such as the family and motherhood. In his ''Une Famille''<ref name="Family">[http://www.museumsyndicate.com/item.php?item=4939 "Family"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125113140/http://www.museumsyndicate.com/item.php?item=4939 |date=25 November 2020 }}, oil on canvas 2006</ref> Botero represented the Colombian family, a subject often painted in the 1970s and 1980s. In his ''Maternity'',<ref name="Maternity">[http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/detail.php?ID=42550 "Maternity"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208174806/http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/detail.php?ID=42550 |date=8 December 2021 }}, drawing 2006</ref> Botero repeated a composition he had already painted in 2003.<ref name="Mother and Child">[http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/detail.php?ID=42471 "Maternity"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208174805/http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/detail.php?ID=42471 |date=8 December 2021 }}, oil on canvas, 2003</ref> 

In 2008, he exhibited the works of his ''The Circus'' collection, featuring 20 works in oil and watercolor. In a 2010 interview, Botero said that he was ready for other subjects: "After all this, I always return to the simplest things: [[still life]]s."<ref name="Gibson" />

==Style==
[[File:&quot;Liegende mit Frucht&quot; Skulptur von Fernando Botero in Bamberg - Deutschland.jpg|thumb|''Woman with fruit'', Bamberg, Germany]]While his work includes [[still-life]]s and [[Landscape art|landscapes]], Botero concentrated on situational portraiture. His paintings and sculptures are united by their [[Body proportions|proportionally]] exaggerated, or "fat" figures, as he once referred to them.<ref name=Gibson>[http://www.londonnet.co.uk/art/news/fernando-botero-at-thomas-gibson-fine-art "Fernando Botero: at Thomas Gibson Fine Art"], LondonNet, 20 September 2010</ref>

Botero explained his use of these "large people", as they are often called by critics, in the following way:

<blockquote>An artist is attracted to certain kinds of form without knowing why. You adopt a position intuitively; only later do you attempt to rationalize or even justify it.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McDermott |first1=Memory |title=Tea For Two: Natures Apothecary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cK-yBSPv-EAC&pg=PT89 |publisher=Lulu.com |date=2005 |page=167 |isbn=9781413760972 |access-date=2 July 2016}} {{self-published source|date=January 2022}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}}</blockquote>Botero’s work, ''Still Life with Mandolin'', marked the beginning of his stylistic development in painting enlarged figures. It became his trademark.<ref name=":05">{{Cite book |last=Brennan |first=Carol |title=Contemporary Hispanic Biography |publisher=Gale |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7876-6539-5 |volume=2 |location=Detroit, MI |pages=43-46}}</ref> During a November 2000 interview, he said about it:<blockquote>I was drawing a mandolin, and I made the sound hole very small, which made the mandolin look gigantic. I saw that making the details small made the form monumental. So, in my figures, the eyes, the mouth are all small and the exterior form is huge.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Darling |first=Juanita |date=2000-11-02 |title=Softening the Face of Medellin |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-02-mn-45891-story.html |access-date=2024-02-23 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref></blockquote>During 1956 – 1958, Botero had exhibitions in both Washington D.C. and Mexico City. Despite selling almost all of his paintings, he didn't gain favor of critics. His reputation improved after the New York Museum of Modern Art obtained his painting, ''Mona Lisa, Age Twelve'', in 1961.<ref name=":05" />

Though he spent only one month a year in Colombia, he considered himself the "most Colombian artist living", due to his isolation from the international trends of the art world.<ref name=Gibson />

==Donations==
[[File:Pano Plazo Botero.jpg|300px|thumbnail|right|[[Botero Plaza]] in Botero's hometown of [[Medellín]] is a popular tourist site.]]
Botero donated a large number of artworks to museums in Bogotá and his hometown, Medellín. In 2000, Botero donated 123 pieces of his work and 85 pieces from his personal collection to the [[Botero Museum|Museo Botero]] in Bogotá, including works by [[Chagall]], [[Picasso]], [[Robert Rauschenberg]], and the French [[Impressionism|impressionists]].<ref name="LaRosaMejía2012">{{cite book |author1=Michael J. LaRosa |author2=Germán R. Mejía |title=Colombia: A Concise Contemporary History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MsFETT--4zoC&pg=PA168 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |date=5 April 2012 |pages=168– |isbn=978-1-4422-0937-4}}</ref> He donated 119 pieces to the [[Museum of Antioquia]],<ref name="Caputo">{{cite book |author=Lorrain Caputo |title=VIVA Colombia Adventure Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c16G3Z9EtgcC&pg=PT624 |publisher=Viva Publishing Network |pages=624– |isbn=978-1-937157-05-0}}</ref> including 23 bronze sculptures for the square in front of the museum, which became known as [[Botero Plaza]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Plaza Botero de Medellín |url=https://www.medellin.travel/plaza-botero/ |website=Medellín Travel |access-date=16 September 2023}}</ref>

In response to the [[Colombian peace process]], Botero sculpted and donated ''[[La paloma de la paz]]'' (2016) to the [[Executive Branch of Colombia|Government of Colombia]] to commemorate the signing and ratification of the agreement.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.es/cultura/arte/abci-fernando-botero-dona-escultura-paloma-presidencia-colombiana-201609242008_noticia.html |agency=ABC |title=Fernando Botero dona su escultura "La paloma de la paz" a la Presidencia colombiana |date=26 September 2016 |access-date=14 July 2022}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Botero was married twice. With his first wife, {{ill|Gloria Zea|es}} (1935–2019), later director of the Colombian Institute of Culture (Colcultura), he had three children: [[Fernando Botero Zea|Fernando]], Lina, and Juan Carlos.<ref name="Sillevis2006" /> They divorced in 1960<ref name="Dinero"/> and, the following year, Botero moved to New York City, where he lived for a dozen years before settling in Paris.<ref name="ByV"/>

In 1964 Botero began living with Cecilia Zambrano. They had a son, Pedro''',''' who was killed in 1974 in a car accident when they were vacationing in Spain. While traveling between Sevilla and Córdoba, a truck lost control and crashed into their car. Pedro was four years old. Botero survived, but he lost the phalanx of the right little finger. Botero's work, ''Pedrito a Caballo'', was inspired by his late son and was painted in the months following the accident.'''<ref>{{Cite web |last=País |first=El |date=2023-09-15 |title=La triste historia de Pedrito, el hijo del artista Fernando Botero y de su segunda esposa, la caleña Cecilia Zambrano |url=https://www.elpais.com.co/cultura/la-triste-historia-de-pedrito-el-hijo-del-artista-fernando-botero-y-de-su-segunda-esposa-la-calena-cecilia-zambrano-1508.html |access-date=2024-02-23 |website=Noticias de Cali, Valle y Colombia - Periodico: Diario El País |language=spanish}}</ref>''' Botero and Zambrano separated in 1975.<ref name="Dinero"/><ref name="Free">{{Cite web |last=Rome |first=Wanted in |date=2023-09-17 |title=Artist Fernando Botero to be buried in Italy |url=https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/artist-fernando-botero-to-be-buried-in-italy.html |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=Wanted in Rome |language=en}}</ref>

His home city, Medellín, is also known for being the home of Pablo Escobar, Colombia’s most famous drug lord. After the death of Escobar, Botero found out that two of his paintings were in Escobar's possession, and this angered him. <ref name=":06">{{Cite book |last=Brennan |first=Carol |title=Contemporary Hispanic Biography |publisher=Gale |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7876-6539-5 |volume=2 |location=Detroit, MI |pages=43-46}}</ref> Botero painted the death of Escobar on his paintings, ''The'' ''Death of Pablo Escobar,'' and ''Pablo Escobar Dead.'' Unfortunately, the violence in the city didn’t end after the drug lord’s death. Botero was kidnapped while in the city in 1994, and in 1995, one of his statues, ''The Bird of Peace'', was blown up in a bomb attack.<ref name=":06" />

Botero's second wife was the Greek artist [[Sophia Vari]] with whom he resided in Paris and [[Monte Carlo]] until her death on 5 May 2023<ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=6 May 2023|title=Πέθανε η εικαστικός Σοφία Βάρη|trans-title= |url=https://www.protothema.gr/culture/article/1368020/pethane-i-eikastikos-sofia-vari/|language=Greek|work=[[Proto Thema]]|location= |access-date=8 May 2023}}</ref> The couple also had a house in [[Pietrasanta]], Italy.<ref name="Free"/> Botero's 80th birthday was commemorated with an exhibition of his works at Pietrasanta.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mysinchew.com/node/75192 |title=Italy's sculpture capital honours Colombian Fernando Botero |website=www.mysinchew.com |access-date=9 February 2019 |archive-date=10 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190210044520/http://www.mysinchew.com/node/75192 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 

Botero died from complications of [[pneumonia]] on 15 September 2023, at age 91, in Monaco.<ref>{{cite news |title=Murió Fernando Botero, el artista colombiano más grande de todos los tiempos |url=https://www.eltiempo.com/cultura/arte-y-teatro/murio-fernando-botero-el-artista-mas-grande-de-colombia-806295 |access-date=15 September 2023 |publisher=El Tiempo |date=15 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=15 September 2023 |title=Colombian artist Fernando Botero dies aged 91 |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-66819339 |access-date=15 September 2023}}</ref>

==Popular culture==
Botero's 1964 painting ''[[Pope Leo X]] (after [[Raphael]])'' has found a second life as a popular internet meme. It is typically seen with the caption "y tho".<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 July 2022 |title=Woman says sending meme response to job rejection email got her an interview |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/woman-job-rejecter-letter-meme-tiktok-b2126028.html |access-date=30 March 2023 |website=[[The Independent]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Santora |first=Sara |date=18 July 2022 |title=Woman's Hilarious Response to Job Rejection Email Lands Her an Interview |url=https://www.newsweek.com/womans-hilarious-response-job-rejection-email-lands-her-interview-1725653 |access-date=30 March 2023 |website=[[Newsweek]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title="Y Tho" (Why Though) {{!}} Dartmouth Folklore Archive |url=https://journeys.dartmouth.edu/folklorearchive/y-tho-why-though/ |access-date=30 March 2023 |website=journeys.dartmouth.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Latu |first=Dan |date=17 July 2022 |title='If someone sent that to me I would ABSOLUTELY want an interview': Job applicant secures interview after responding to rejection email with meme |url=https://www.dailydot.com/irl/job-rejection-meme-interview/ |access-date=30 March 2023 |website=The Daily Dot |language=en-US}}<!--See wp:rs/p which states that Daily Dot is acceptable for non-contentious claims--></ref>

[[Mario Vargas Llosa]]'s 2023 novel ''Le dedico mi silencio'' uses Botero's 1979 painting ''Los músicos'' as its cover illustration.<ref name="Infobae-Villantoy"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Iturbide |first1=Facundo |title=El inesperado encuentro de Mario Vargas Llosa y Fernando Botero en la portada de su nueva novela |url=https://www.es24.com.es/entretenimiento/2023/7/30/el-inesperado-encuentro-de-mario-vargas-llosa-fernando-botero-en-la-portada-de-su-nueva-novela-20017.html |access-date=17 September 2023 |agency=es24 |date=30 July 2023}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Plaza Botero 03.jpg|"Maternity" 1995 Exhibition in Medellin
File:Botero Berlin - panoramio (2).jpg|Exhibition in Berlin
File:Gato, Botero.JPG|''Cat'', 1990, Barcelona
File:Maternidad de Botero (Oviedo).jpg|''Motherhood'', Oviedo
File:Mujer_con_espejo,_Botero,_Madrid_(03).jpg|''[[Woman with Mirror]]'', 1987
File:Woman Smoking a Cigarette (36322452893).jpg|''Woman with cigarette'', Yerevan
File:Fernando Botero, Bird (1990), Singapore - 20040616.jpg|''Bird'', 1990, in front of UOB Plaza, Singapore
File:Centurion (5211881978).jpg|''Roman Warrior'', Cafesjian Museum of Art, Yerevan
File:'Man on Horse', bronze sculpture by Fernando Botero (Colombian), 1992, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel.JPG|''Man on Horse'', bronze, 1992, at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem
File:2014 Erywań, Park przy Kaskadach (20).jpg|''The Cat'', Yerevan
File:Botero.La mano.JPG|''[[The Hand (Botero)|The Hand]]'', Madrid 
File:Cascada, Ereván, Armenia, 2016-10-03, DD 19.jpg|''Smoking woman'', Cafesjian Museum of Art, Yerevan 
File:Bilbao -Fernando Botero, Caballo con bridas (2009).jpg|''Caballo con bridas'', Bilbao
File:AdamandEve-FernandoBotero-20100414.jpg|''Adam and Eve'', near Crockfords Tower at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore
File:Ladamadebotero.jpg|''Lady'', Medellín
File:Goslar Botero 02.jpg|Sculpture by Fernando Botero in Goslar
File:Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein 8a.JPG|Sculpture by Fernando Botero in front of the [[Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein]], Vaduz
File:Broadgate Venus 2020.jpg|''Broadgate Venus'', 1989, London
File:Cat statue created by Fernando Botero.jpg|''Cat'', Cafesjian Museum of Art, Yerevan 
File:Seattle, November 2022 - 148.jpg| ''[[Adam (Botero)|Adam]]'', Seattle
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Fernando Botero}}
* [https://www.botero.org/ Website]
* {{FMD designer}}
* [http://www.thegreatcat.org/the-cat-in-art-and-photos-2/cats-in-art-20th-century/fernando-botero-1932-present-colombian/ Botero's Cats]
* [http://www.museumsyndicate.com/artist.php?artist=248 Gallery of Botero's Artwork]—{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112033350/http://www.museumsyndicate.com/artist.php?artist=248 |date=12 November 2020 }}
* [http://www.bogotatravelguide.com/places-to-go-in-bogota/botero-museum.php Places to Go in Bogotá: Botero Museum Bogotá]—Video and information
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150313080646/http://www.continiartuk.com/artist-fernando-botero.html Contini Art UK]
* {{Imdb name|6359685}}
* {{Discogs artist|Fernando Botero}}

===''Abu Ghraib'' series===
* {{YouTube|VoleMx-sxqQ|''A Permanent Accusation''}}—A short movie on the ''Abu Ghraib'' series by Fernando Botero
* [http://art_at_thekatzen.typepad.com/art_thekatzen/2007/01/fernando_botero.html ''Abu Ghraib: November 6 – December 30, 2007'']—An exhibition at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington, D.C.
* [http://kulturindustrie.blogspot.com/2006/11/crucified-smurfs.html ''Crucified Smurfs'']—[[Mark Scroggins]] discusses Botero's series of canvases & drawings based on the reports of prisoner abuse in [[Abu Ghraib]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070203080237/http://clas.berkeley.edu:7001/ ''Abu Ghraib: January 29 – March 25, 2007'']—The first US institutional exhibition at UC Berkeley, with a webcast of a conversation between Fernando Botero and Robert Hass on the day of the opening
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061117125111/http://www.marlboroughgallery.com/artists/botero/artwork.html ''Abu Ghraib: October 18 – November 21, 2006'']—The first US gallery exhibition at the Marlborough in New York
* [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061127/danto ''The Body in Pain'']—An essay by [[Arthur Danto]] in ''[[The Nation]]'' about Botero's ''Abu Ghraib'' series, discussing what Danto refers to as "disturbatory art"
* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110200652.html?sub=AR "Botero Sees the World's True Heavies at Abu Ghraib"] by [[Erica Jong]] in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' about Botero's ''Abu Ghraib'' series
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071215133710/http://www.monthlyreview.org/mrzine/farhat081007.html "Botero's Abu Ghraib Series and the American Consciousness"] by [[Maymanah Farhat]] in the ''[[Monthly Review]]'' discusses Botero's ''Abu Ghraib'' series in the larger context of American art and politics

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Botero, Fernando}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:2023 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Colombian sculptors]]
[[Category:Colombian male painters]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Monaco]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Arts]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic]]
[[Category:Colombian modern painters]]
[[Category:Colombian modern sculptors]]
[[Category:People from Medellín]]
[[Category:Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando alumni]]