Fernando Botero, an icon of Colombian contemporary art, passed away at 91. His public sculptures adorn parks and squares in many cities across the world, and his paintings can be found in the collections of some of the most prominent museums. Botero’s legacy will forever live on in the creations of those who have been inspired by his work. Today, let’s take a closer look at Botero’s art and his signature style known as “Boterismo.”
The word that most people would use when describing Botero’s art is “voluptuous.” This is the artist’s signature style that brought him worldwide acclaim and recognition. Undeniably, the characters Botero depicted in his figurative sculptures and paintings are all quite plump, to say the least — even bottles in his still-life paintings look like they were inflated. Some might see it as an obsession with plus-size people, but Fernando Botero never saw his work as fetishistic. Instead, he expressed the “sensuality” of the volume of the human form by exaggerating its features.
A cartoonish naivety is another notable feature of Botero’s pieces. It is especially evident in his paintings that captured his love for bright colors, cheeky facial expressions, and humorous situations. Exaggerated proportions certainly add to the overall comical feeling of Botero’s work.
What is not immediately apparent when you first look at Botero’s art is that it is incredibly political. This element is easy to miss if you are only familiar with his public art sculptures that the artist tended to make relatively safe in terms of themes. However, if we turn to his paintings, we will see that he never shied away from spotlighting social issues and historical events, many of which were traumatizing. He famously dedicated one of his most scandalous series to the tortured prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison during the Iraq War. Botero also painted a series of paintings picturing the notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, including his highly mythologized death.
Fernando Botero was often called the “Colombian Picasso,” while he called himself “the most Colombian out of all Colombian artists.” Botero left a significant mark on the contemporary art of his home country and around the globe. He will be remembered as an artist who was not afraid to speak against injustice and take risks both with his art and his messages.
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