FERNANDO BOTERO — Columbian Painter and Founder of Boterismo

Fernando Botero (1932–2023) was a Colombian painter and sculptor renowned for his instantly recognizable aesthetic known as “Boterismo,” a visual language characterized by voluminous, inflated forms that transform figures, animals, and objects into monumental, exaggerated presences. Born in Medellín, Colombia, Botero briefly attended a bullfighting school as a child before turning toward art, sketching the matadors, horses, and arenas around him. By age sixteen, he had already published illustrations in the El Colombiano newspaper, and by nineteen he held his first solo exhibition in Bogotá.

In the early 1950s, Botero traveled to Europe to study the Old Masters, immersing himself in the works of Velázquez, Goya, Titian, and the Italian Renaissance painters. His education expanded further as he absorbed the influence of pre-Columbian art, colonial Latin American aesthetics, and the political murals of Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco. These visual traditions formed the foundation of his distinctive style. Botero gained national recognition in 1958 when he won the top prize at the Salón de Artistas Colombianos, an honor that helped propel him onto the international stage.

By the 1960s, Botero had fully developed “Boterismo,” not merely an embrace of exaggerated volume, but a deliberate exploration of sensuality, humor, critique, and human psychology. His rounded figures are often seen as whimsical, yet they also serve as sharp commentary on power, wealth, excess, social inequality, and political violence.

Botero expanded his practice to sculpture after moving to Paris in 1973. His bronze works are massive, sensuous, and larger than life, transitioning his aesthetic into public spaces around the world. By the 1990s, monumental outdoor installations in cities such as New York, Paris, Madrid, Singapore, and Florence made him one of the most publicly visible artists of his generation.

In the 2000s, Botero turned decisively toward political content. His series addressing violence in Colombia confronted the turmoil caused by drug cartels and decades-long civil conflict. In 2005, his Abu Ghraib series was based on the documented abuses of prisoners in Iraq, and became one of the most widely discussed bodies of political art of the decade, earning global attention for its moral urgency.

Botero’s work has been exhibited internationally and is held in major museums, corporations, and private collections across Latin America, Europe, and the United States. His sculptures occupy prominent public sites worldwide, cementing his presence in the cultural landscapes of dozens of cities. In Colombia, he made substantial cultural contributions, notably donating 23 bronze sculptures to Medellín and a large collection of paintings to the Museo de Antioquia. These transformed his hometown into a global destination for art lovers.

Fernando Botero is regarded as the most internationally celebrated Latin American artist of his generation. His bold rejection of minimalism and abstraction, in favor of voluptuous figuration and narrative richness, positioned him as a singular voice in modern art. Botero passed away on September 15, 2023, in Monaco at age 91, leaving behind an immense and influential body of work that continues to resonate globally.

Fernando Botero at DTR Modern Galleries

DTR Modern Galleries showcases select works by Fernando Botero across our contemporary spaces in Boston, New York, Palm Beach, and Washington, D.C. His paintings, works on paper, and sculpture editions are part of the gallery’s ongoing program of modern and postwar masters, reflecting a lasting collector demand for Botero’s iconic, exuberant aesthetic.