2023-09-15 12:58:00
According to W Radio, the media that reported the news, Botero died at his residence in the principality of Monaco, where he continued to paint until very recently.
This week he had been hospitalized for pneumonia from which he preferred to recover at home, so he was discharged on Thursday, one day before his death.
Born in Medellín in 1932, following finishing high school he moved to Bogotá to begin a career as an artist that would last more than 75 years.
A sculptor, painter and draftsman, Botero was known worldwide for his voluminous and unmistakable forms, as well as his vibrant colors.
A detail of the death of Pablo Escobar, a painting by Botero that is exhibited in the Museum of Antioquia, in his native Medellín.
Credit: Univision News
“Fernando Botero has died, the painter of our traditions and defects, the painter of our virtues. The painter of our violence and peace. Of the dove a thousand times discarded and a thousand times placed on its throne,” wrote the president of Colombia , Gustavo Petro, on the social network Twitter, alluding to the work that the artist donated to commemorate the peace agreement with the FARC in 2016 and which is exhibited in the Casa Nariño, presidential headquarters.
“We deeply regret the departure of Fernando Botero, one of the greatest artists of Colombia and the world. Always generous with his country, a great friend, and passionate builder of peace. Our most sincere condolences to his entire family,” he wrote on Twitter former Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos.
Botero had been in “quite poor health” for five days
His daughter Lina Botero, speaking to Caracol Radio, explained that he died in Monaco this Friday morning: “He had been in very poor health for five days because he had developed pneumonia.”
“He had an extraordinary life and he left at the right time,” said his shocked daughter, who remembered him as a person “who dedicated his life to his country, which was the subject of his artistic work.”
The painter studied in Colombia and at the Royal Academy of Art of San Fernando, in Madrid, and began to exhibit in the 60s in the United States, with a first exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Center where he began to show his characteristic figurative style.
Botero leaves behind a long artistic work; from his characteristic and peculiar Mona Lisa to the couples with thick shapes dancing, passing through his sculptures that adorn the corners of the world, but above all his native Medellín, to which he has given dozens of works.
1694785447
#Fernando #Botero #internationally #Colombian #artist #dies
