Fernando Botero Agulo (1932 - 2023) is the most famous Colombian artist, famous for his paintings in his own unique style, when people look hypertrophied voluminous, but at the same time not at all heavy, rather inflated, like balloons. For Botero, composition is very important, the relationship between space and his characters, and their size allows him to more accurately express the main idea of the artist's work - the idea of volume, which is based on the importance of man as a person.
Picnic
And nobody writes like Botero, but to be able to find your own style, and such an original and resonating with many fans, is worth a lot.
Botero was born in the Colombian city of Medellín, where Spanish culture is very influential and even holds bullfighting, as in Madrid. When he first saw this spectacle, he terribly wanted to become a matador, to go to the arena, and under the enthusiastic shouts of the crowd to play with the bull not for life but for death. He studied at the school of matadors, but at the age of 15 decided to leave it and become an artist, which frankly disappointed his parents-traditionalists.
The Abduction of Europe
But already in 1958 he was talked about as a very promising artist and was awarded the main prize of a local art competition. By that time he had already found his volumetric style and was helped in this by a happy accident - Botero once thought to paint a mandolin, the paint on the painting, where the musical instrument was depicted, floated from the heat, and the mandolin became unnaturally voluminous, but at the same time very expressive. Then there were successful experiments with male and female figures and Botero realized - this is it, what all self-respecting artists are looking for so long - his own, unlike anything else style. He adhered to it all the time, although at first Botero's paintings could well be confused with the work of other artists, and one could only dream of any recognition.
Dancers
Botero in many interviews tries to prove that he is not obsessed with obese women as one might think from looking at his paintings, his characters are, in the artist's words, "three-dimensional, not fat".
First lady
And in his personal life, he prefers to deal with slender beauties. Botero has been married three times, and his current wife, Greek sculptor Sofia Vari, can give a head start to many mannequins - she weighs only 55 kg.
Lettering
Botero considers the light in his artwork to be the most important thing in his studio - it should fall strictly from the north, as this is the best way to display a sense of volume in his paintings. Botero is also a traditionalist - he prefers to paint in oil, pastels or watercolors, but does not respect acrylics because they are "made of plastic".
Family
In his time Botero actively collected paintings, good earnings were enough, and later transferred all the paintings to various museums in his country. However, there is one painting - "The Baptism of Christ" by Piero Della Francesco, which he is not able to buy, but very much wanted and even stated that he was ready to steal it.
Piero Della Francesco. The Baptism of Christ
But Botero willingly writes parodies of other famous paintings, such as Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. And they look at least unusual and funny in Botero's interpretation, and what else is needed for a good joke?
Mona Lisa at the age of 12
Except that Botero's earnings are not serious at all, he is one of the richest artists in the world, a man who has achieved universal recognition, and, as it turned out, it was enough just to invent his own style, which would be liked by many and follow it all his life.
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