Unusual places and monuments. Fernando Botero: “The famous Pusan ​​Creator Fernando Botero: a short biography

Fernando Botero Angulo(Spanish) Fernando Botero Angulo, R. 1932) is a contemporary Colombian artist.

Biography, creativity

Fernando Botero Angulo born April 19, 1932 in Medellin (Colombia). His father was a salesman and died of a heart attack when the boy was only four years old. The future artist’s mother worked as a seamstress and raised three sons. Uncle Fernando helped the family, but there was still not enough money. In addition, the upbringing of children was based on Catholic traditions and hard work, the result of which can be considered the fact that Botero did not visit museums and was not familiar with the main trends in modern art, but he often visited Catholic churches, where I had the opportunity to get acquainted with the works of medieval masters.

Fernando Botero received his education first at the Jesuit school, and then at the bullfighting school, where he entered at the insistence of his uncle. However, the matador career of young Botero was cut short literally in the very first days, when the boy was injured in one of the training fights. Over the next two years, he already painted watercolors, although he continued to study to become a matador - his uncle’s influence was still great. In 1946, Fernando left school, and in 1948, together with some other Colombian artists, he exhibited his work to the public for the first time.

Botero continued to receive secondary education in the third school, while working as an illustrator for the newspaper El Colombiano (Spanish: El Colombiano) and sometimes publishing articles about other artists, including Picasso. Finding a response among young people, Bogotá alienated conservative circles, which led to him being expelled from school again and resulting in his education at the Lyceum of the University of Antioquia, where he spent all his earned money on tuition fees. In 1951, Botero moved to Bogota, where his first solo exhibition took place that same year. Becoming more and more famous in the art circles of what was then Colombia, in 1952, together with a group of artists, he toured Spain, visiting Madrid and staying in Barcelona.

Spain made an impression on Fernando Botero and in the same 1952 he entered the art school San Fernando in Madrid. Soon, however, the artist moved to Florence, where he studied with Professor Bernard Berenson at the Academy of St. Mark (1953-1954). There he continued to study classical painting and got acquainted with art Italian Renaissance and with the technique of creating frescoes. Later, returning to Colombia for some time, Botero organized his first personal opening day at the Leo Matis gallery. Recalling his life in Europe at that time, Botero said: “I spent the last of my money on museums and art albums, forgetting about food. Admiration for the great Italian masters changed my life overnight.”

Simultaneously with all this, in 1952, the artist participated in the National art salon Columbia, presenting his film “By the Sea” to the jury and ultimately taking second place. Botero's works of that period are extremely heterogeneous; the artist had not yet found his own style and continued to experiment with forms. In addition, it is difficult to single out several masters who influenced him. Among his teachers he can include both Renaissance painters and his contemporaries. Art critic Roberta Smith, criticizing Botero’s figurative art (she wrote about his later works that they were “inflated rubber dolls”), in early work The artist saw continuous borrowings, without any structure, imitation of everyone from Paul Gauguin to Diego Rivera and Jose Orozco. It must be said that when getting acquainted with the paintings of new artists, she uses the following approach as a method: she tries to understand which works of classics reminds her of new job and what exactly this is embodied in. Then she mentally “deletes” everything borrowed and tries to analyze the remainder, i.e. something that is theoretically new and therefore represents a certain “art value”. In the case of early Botero, it was almost impossible to find anything “new,” but the number of borrowings and determinants was abnormally high.

In 1955, a significant event happened in the life of Fernando Botero. While working on another painting ( "Still Life with Mandolin"), he slightly modified the shape of the depicted object, making the object deliberately large. This “mistake,” however, became the starting point for the formation of the artist’s original style and marked the beginning of his endless “volumetric” figures, which brought him worldwide fame.

Also in 1955, Boreto married Gloria Zea, who later served as director of the Museum contemporary art in Bogota (Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogota, El MAMBO) and the Minister of Culture of Colombia). In 1958, the artist won Grand Prize at SALON DE Artistas Colombianos in Bogota, after which his career took off sharply. He soon began to call himself “the most Colombian of Colombian artists,” which found support (especially outside Colombia), and his exhibitions began to be held in Europe and the United States.

Despite the fact that the marriage with Cea produced three children (Fernando, Lina and Juan Carlos), the couple broke up in 1960 and after the divorce, Fernando himself moved to New York, where he lived for the next 14 years. In the first years there was not enough money, and the artist did not know English well, which only added to the problems. At a certain point in time, Boreto discovered that there was a demand for paintings “in the style of the old masters” and adapted his painting style to the Western European “classical” school.

In 1964, Botero began living with Cecilia Zambrano. In 1974, their son Pedro was born, but already in 1975 they separated. In 1979, Botero was involved in a car accident while his son was in the car. That. At the age of five, the boy died, which was a serious blow for the artist.

In 1970, Fernando Botero managed to ensure that some of his paintings were exhibited at the Marlborough Gallery. These works became extremely popular in a very short time and when Botero returned to Europe, he discovered that he was a very successful artist. It must be said that the themes of Botero’s works are different. Many of his paintings are in one way or another dedicated to Colombia. He portrays how ordinary people("Maiden", 1974), and politicians ("The President", 1987), mafiosi ("The Death of Pablo Escobar", 1999), etc. His anti-clerical works are also striking (“I Walk in the Hills,” 1977). In the second half of the 70s, Botero created his own versions of some classical paintings(“Mademoiselle Rivière Ingres”, “Mona Lisa”, “Sunflowers”).

In the late 90s, Botero created a number of films dedicated to the problems of crime in Colombia ("Slaughter of the Innocents", "Massacre in Colombia"). “The Most Colombian Artist” raises topics that are relevant, and therefore interesting and understandable to the average person. A series of paintings about the military’s abuse of prisoners in the notorious prison is also filled with the same “civilian” theme. "Abu Ghraib".

Fernando Botero also made his mark as a sculptor, making several of his “voluminous” figures in bronze (“Cat” in Barcelona). Stylistically, these works can be considered sculptural images typical images masters One of them (“Still Life with Watermelon”, 1976-1977) was donated by the artist to the Hermitage and is currently exhibited in the Hall of 20th Century European and American Art.

In 1992, the then mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac, allowed Botero to organize a solo exhibition directly on the Champs Elysees. It should be noted that no foreign artist had received such an honor until that moment.

Currently, various cities invite Fernando Botero to create works for certain city holidays. The artist worked in this way in Madrid, New York, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Monte Carlo, Florence, etc. In addition, his paintings and sculptures are very popular and are bought for quite a lot of money (“Breakfast on the Grass” was sold for a million dollars).

Botero's last wife was the French-Greek artist Sophia Vari. The couple currently lives in Italy. It is also interesting to note that in its personal life Botero prefers not fat women at all. In one interview, the master stated that he “loved three women, and they were all thin.” In addition, the artist always denied that he was depicting “fat people,” claiming that he was simply “painting three-dimensionally.”

Despite the great demand, Boreto often donates his works. In Colombia, this brought him fame and the love of many fellow citizens. The influential Colombian magazine Semana even included him among the ten most popular personalities in the country. It is known that, for example, the museum fine arts in Bogota, he donated a collection of paintings with an approximate value of 60 million dollars (this was Botero’s personal collection, which contained works artists XIX-XX centuries), and as a gift to his hometown Medellin Botero gave 18 sculptures and almost a hundred paintings, which laid the foundation for the exhibition of the Place des Arts.

The creative legacy of Fernando Botero is enormous. He created about 3,000 paintings and more than 200 sculptures. In addition, he owns a huge number of different sketches, drawings and watercolors. Works of this artist sometimes called kitsch, but, of course, questions genre classification remain open. It should be noted that Botero’s work is almost impossible to consider in the context of the development of Western European art in the second half of the 20th century, because the artist himself, even in New York, acted in isolation, almost unresponsive to the challenges and responses characteristic of this most modern art.

In 2014, a complex of buildings of the Port Plaza business center was built on the site of the former Greyfer experimental plant. And in 2016, its buildings appeared original sculptures- figures of a horse and a young lady lying on the back of a bull. Their unusualness lies in their shapes, which appear unnaturally bloated and rounded.

These are copies of works by the famous sculptor of Colombian origin Fernando Botero. He became famous for his works, in which literally everything (from people and animals to ordinary objects) is exaggeratedly inflated. This applies to both paintings and sculptures.

It is interesting that until the mid-50s Botero worked in the usual manner: people are like people, animals are like animals. A sharp turn occurred quite by accident when the artist was creating “Still Life with Mandolin.” He noticed that the musical instrument turned out to be too bloated. At first it seemed just funny and funny, but as a result it degenerated into Botero’s signature and unique style.

Botero's paintings are included in the collections of many museums around the world, and his sculptures are installed in many cities. "Horse" and "The Rape of Europa" in Moscow are copies famous sculptures, and not the only ones. Therefore, it is now difficult to say where exactly the originals are located.

By the way...

Botero does not hesitate to write in his own style not only his own original works, but also creates “copies” famous paintings. Even in his self-portraits, he depicts himself in his own unique manner. As an example, I give one of the self-portraits and a copy of the famous “Mona Lisa”.

Fernando Botero is one of the most famous artists and sculptors of Colombian origin. His work has a significant impact on modern culture and art. About this extraordinary man and his works will do speech in the article.

Millions of people today admire his work, but the path to fame and success was by no means easy. But the painter walked towards his happiness, overcoming difficulties step by step. Today he has achieved what he has been striving for for so long, but he does not stop there, but continues to discover more and more new facets of himself.

Fernando Botero: short biography

The future artist and the whole world, was born on April 19, 1932 in the Colombian city of Medellin, which is famous throughout the world for drug trafficking.

Already with early years he began to show interest in art, but in a family with a conservative way of life, everyone was skeptical about his hobby. When a fifteen-year-old boy announced that he intended to become an artist, his mother and the rest of the household were opposed to it. They believed that art could be something like a hobby, but not a way to make a living.

However, Fernando Botero was determined and began to develop, improving his skills in what he loved. He soon managed to achieve a position as an illustrator at the local print publication El Colombiano, where he worked in this position until 1951.

Travel to Europe

Fernando then decides to go to Europe to gain new knowledge and experience. In Madrid he underwent short-term training at an art school.

Then he went to Florence, where he visited training sessions from Bernard Bernson - famous professor and American scientist. In Italy he met European Renaissance, which I previously knew only by hearsay.

The trip to Europe lasted about a year, and in 1952 Botero returned to his homeland. During this time, he received a lot of new impressions and emotions, met European art and history, gained new knowledge in the field of art, painting techniques, etc.

Of course, in just a year he did not have time to transform from an inexperienced self-taught artist into a professional, but the knowledge gained on this journey helped him form his own style in the future.

Artist Fernando Botero

Upon returning to his homeland, the aspiring sculptor and artist organized his first personal exhibition, which worked in the L. Matisse gallery.

In 1952, he participated in a competition organized by the National Art. salon of Colombia. It featured his painting "By the Sea", which took 2nd place.

But at the beginning of his career, Fernando Botero, whose works did not yet have a personal, unique style, did not stand out too much from the general mass of young artists. Having visited his debut exhibition, many visitors did not even understand that these were paintings by the same artist, considering them to be the works of different people.

At that time, his work was influenced by completely different painters: P. Gauguin, D. Rivera, impressionists and others. In addition, he did not have the opportunity to familiarize himself with their works in reality, so he limited himself to illustrative reproductions.

Formation of individual style

Until the mid-50s. Fernando Botero, whose paintings had only recently begun to attract interest, did not have the distinct personal style for which he is so famous today. Then he depicted fairly standard people and animals, which were not much different from those in the paintings of other artists.

Familiar to the modern art lover, “fat girls” became his calling card by pure chance. When the artist painted his “Still Life with a Mandolin,” the musical instrument turned out to be too inflated. This amused both the artist himself and the audience. This is how he was born form style Botero, which he liked.

From now on, the Colombian painted only ridiculously inflated images of people, animals and objects.

World fame

Having married Gloria Sia, the artist moved to live in Mexico, but their marriage did not last long. After the divorce, he moves to New York. Poor possession English language and the lack of money prompted him to begin painting copies of the works of famous artists.

At the same time, the artist wrote and own paintings. Thanks to this, in 1970 he exhibited his paintings at the Marlborough Gallery. The exhibition becomes successful, and the return to Europe is victorious.

Since then, Botero has become a famous and outstanding Colombian artist of our time.

The modern stage of creativity

The works of Fernando Botero are highly valued today, which allows him to travel a lot and make a living doing what he loves. The artist has a house in Paris, where he paints mainly large canvases. On the Mediterranean coast of France, the creator not only loves to relax with his family, but also indulges in his other hobby, in addition to painting. It is here that the sculptor Fernando Botero is revealed to the world. The master’s creations, like his paintings, are distinguished by their grotesque volume.

He also often visits New York, where he also creates.

In 1992, Fernando Botero received an invitation himself (then he was the mayor of Paris) to hold a personal exhibition on the Champs Elysees, where no foreign artist had previously been invited.

Today Botero travels around the world demonstrating his works. He is one of the most outstanding painters and sculptors of our time.

Paintings

From contemporary artists Fernando is certainly among the highest paid. His paintings at art auctions and exhibitions are sold for fabulous sums. For example, the painting “Breakfast on the Grass” from 1969 was sold on the art market for $1 million.

He also visited Russia; moreover, the Hermitage houses a sculptural group that the master personally donated to the museum. It's called "Still Life with Watermelon".

The artist was always worried about everything that was happening in the world. He could not be indifferent and at the beginning of the 2000s he created a series of paintings “Abu Ghraib”, where he clearly showed how cruelly the Americans treated Arab captives and prisoners in an Iraqi prison. These creations were first seen on Columbia in the spring of 2005.

Fernando Botero, whose sculptures and paintings are in great demand today, said that he has not yet finished this series of works, which already numbers about 50 creations. According to him, he still has something to say on this topic, because he did not disclose stories related to Afghanistan, Cuba (Guantanamo), etc.

Imitation, or rather, remaking famous paintings in one’s own way is a kind of “trick” of Fernando Botero. "Mona Lisa" performed by a Colombian is a shining example stylization of a world famous work.

Famous paintings

Among the most popular and significant of his works is the painting “Adam and Eve”, where the figures of biblical heroes are depicted from the back. They are both naked and executed in the artist’s traditional “bloated” manner. Adam reaches for the forbidden fruit, and a tempting serpent is visible on the branches of the tree.

In 1990, he painted the painting "At the Window", which depicts a nude fat woman, standing at open window. The artist has a special passion for depicting naked women. Moreover, his craving for bloated forms reaches its climax when he depicts the female body.

The painting "Letter" (1976) depicts a fat woman lying in bed without clothes. Obviously, the girl had just read a letter, which plunged her into deep thought. She looks somewhere aside, holding a letter in her hand, and next to her lie the fruits of citrus trees.

One of his most famous works is the 1969 painting “Breakfast on the Grass,” which depicts a man and woman having a picnic under the shade of trees. At the same time, the man is lying naked, smoking a cigarette, and the girl is dressed and sitting next to him. There is food, fruit and a basket on the tablecloth.

Sculptures

As in painting, in sculpture Fernando Botero also adheres to the figurative style. He created a large number of sculptures in different cities of the world. Today it is new trend, every major city in the world considers it fashionable to place the works of this master on its streets. The artist receives so many offers from the authorities of various cities, major collectors and cultural organizations that he cannot cope with the flow of orders, so he only takes on the most interesting and profitable ones.

Among the most famous sculptural works of Fernando Botero, “The Rape of Europa” takes first place. This composition is located in the capital of Spain and is based on the famous ancient Greek myth about Zeus and Europa, which he kidnapped by turning into a bull.

Of course, this work was done in the author’s typical style. A naked girl (Europe) with a magnificent figure sits on the back of a large muscular bull. She proudly straightens her hair, demonstrating confidence in herself and her beauty. This sculpture is today considered a landmark in Madrid, to which millions of tourists flock every year.

Also very famous is another work by Fernando Botero - the sculpture "Gentleman in a Bowler Hat". His sculpture of a naked girl lying on her stomach, which is located on a square in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, is also world famous.

Contribution to culture

The works of Fernando Botero are in such great demand today that even largest cities and museums around the world to become owners of at least one of his works is a great honor and luck. Goes for the works real hunt, not only does he not need to look for customers or buyers for his works, but on the contrary, the artist has no end to those who want to touch art.

Botero is very hardworking and actively works, creating dozens of creations every year. The more he creates, the more popular his work becomes. Such phenomenal success can be the envy of many famous artists and sculptors. At the same time, the artist remains true to himself, not succumbing to the opinion of the masses and pressure from critics. He simply creates what he likes, putting his soul into his works.

Today his sculptures can be found in almost all major cities and the capitals of European countries, as well as in America and the artist’s homeland, Colombia. Due to age, he is now less productive, but still continues to work constantly.

Conclusion

Fernando Botero is an example of how a person born far from the centers of world art, without proper education in this field, without the support of loved ones, managed to achieve dizzying success thanks to your talent, perseverance and irresistible urge to create.

All the artist had to do was find his own style, different from the general mass, to show individuality, as people began to be interested in his work. People reached out to his paintings and sculptures, art connoisseurs began to speak very highly of him, claiming that Botero is one of the best creators of our time.

The world became interested in his works. Today, the fame of Botero’s work resounds especially in Europe, Northern and South America. In Colombia, the creator is rightfully considered a national hero.

The canvases of Fernando Botero, the largest living artist in the world, are in the most prestigious museums in the world, and his sculptures fit into the street interiors of Paris, Rome, New York and other capitals and cities of the world. And yet, not everyone has the opportunity to see the work of this master “live.”
The master’s works are easily recognizable: he deliberately makes the figures of his characters disproportionately large, with exaggerated curvaceous. And it doesn’t matter who it is - a gallant general, a bullfighter, a bishop, a child, a nun or a person of easy virtue. Even musical instruments, household items, fruits and berries are “lush.” Botero explains it this way: “With shapes and volumes, I try to influence people’s feelings.”
The artist’s paintings are called “boteros”, given their unique individual style.
Coming from a simple Colombian family, Fernando Botero had to study and work a lot before his deceptively simple and naive style appeared, which synthesized the achievements of Dürer to Picasso and from pre-Columbian Indian culture to Mexican monumentalists.

Fernando Botero was born on April 19, 1932 in Medellin, Colombia. His father, David Botero, was a traveling salesman. He died when his son was only 4 years old.
Fernando was raised by his uncle. At first, Fernando attended a Jesuit gymnasium, but in 1944, on the advice of his uncle, the 12-year-old boy was sent to matador school.
That’s when the first youthful drawings appeared. These were toreros, bulls, the arena - the world of bullfighting.
Already at the age of 16, Botero began participating in exhibitions in his native Medellin and working as an artist in local magazines to earn money for college.
In 1951, Botero moved to the capital of Colombia, Bogota. Here he comes into close contact with representatives of the Colombian avant-garde. Fernando paints works influenced by Gauguin and early Picasso.

Then she studied at the prestigious Madrid Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando.
In 1953, the artist came to Florence, where he took a course in art history at the university, then thoroughly studied technology. fresco painting in Venice.
Filled with impressions and knowledge, Botero returned to Bogota, but the exhibition of his Italian works in his homeland was not successful. In 1956, the artist married Gloria Zea, and they immediately left for Mexico City. Here under the influence of Mexican monumental painting the original began to appear creative style Botero.
His fame as an artist grew, and in 1958 Botero was invited to Bogota to the position of professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts.

In 1960, the artist moved to New York, where he divorced his wife. In the same year, the artist became a laureate of the prestigious National Award them. S. Guggenheim, although this was a time when figurative art was not particularly held in high esteem in America.
Became famous style Botero's painting had already reached its fullness, and in 1961, despite critical voices from the abstractionist camp, the Museum of Modern Art
in New York acquires the first painting by a Colombian. It was the painting "Mona Lisa at 12".
In Washington and New York with great success There are several personal exhibitions of Botero.
In 1964, the artist creates new family- He marries Colombian Cecilia Zambrano.

Fernando comes to Europe with his first personal exhibition in 1966.
By the way, the exhibition was first held in Germany (in Baden-Baden, then moved to Hannover).
The artist himself uses his stay in Germany to study the masterpieces of Durer, Cranach, Grunewald in the museums of Munich and Nuremberg. Then he will interpret some of these paintings in his own style.

Gradually, the fame of the artist from distant Medellin becomes truly worldwide. Exhibitions take place one after another simultaneously in both parts of America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Behind all this lies a huge creative work done by the artist. The subsequent years of the master’s life are spent in constant travel between Colombia, the USA and Europe.

Finally, in 1973, he finally settled in Paris, where he bought a large workshop for himself. At the same time, in Paris, Botero created his first sculptural works. These were grandiose compositions (mostly made of bronze), into which the heroes of the master’s paintings “migrated”. The work of the sculptor captivated Botero, and he returned to painting only in 1978.
For two whole years the artist returns to his first theme - the theme of bullfighting.
By this time, Fernando Botero already had a large family - he had four children from two wives. As a result of a car accident on vacation in Spain in 1974, the artist's 4-year-old son Pedro died.

Later, in memory of him, Botero donates 16 of his works to the museum in Medellin. And that was just the beginning.
The artist's generosity is legendary. For example, he donated a collection to the Museum of Fine Arts of Bogota modern painting, which included works from Corot, Manet and Toulouse-Lautrec to Chagall, Dali and Picasso.
And he gave a total of more than 200 works to his native Medellin. If we consider that the cost of Botero’s paintings on the world art market reaches a million dollars, then the generosity of the donor will become clear.
Grateful residents and authorities of Medellin have allocated several blocks in the city center for housing cultural center, which was named "Ciudad Botero" ("city of Botero").
“Maybe now our city will be washed clean of shameful glory international center drug business, and not the criminal Medellin Cartel, but artistic values ​​will determine the face of our city in the world,” people said.

In 1999, among Botero's paintings, works began to appear for the first time, telling about the violence that shook his homeland. These are pictures of bloody massacres, endless funeral processions - everything that the country has been living with for more than 40 years.
This is the picture “The Hunter”, in which a proud “hunter” with a gun tramples on the head... no, not of the prey, but of the man he killed. The artist remarked: “When Colombia becomes a peaceful, civilized country, people will look at my paintings and be surprised at what an irrational, absurd world we lived in.”

Many years of hard work have transformed master Fernando Botero into one of the most important living artists in the world. Since 1992, various cities around the world have invited Fernando Botero to cooperate in order to give greater scope to their celebrations, be it anniversaries or the Olympic Games, by displaying his works.
This happened in Madrid, New York, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Monte Carlo, Florence, Berlin and many others.
Russia has a beautiful sculptural composition Botero - "Still Life with Watermelon", donated by the author to the Hermitage, which is exhibited in the Hall of 20th Century European and American Art.
Getting to know the paintings and sculptures of the great and good master Fernando Botero will never leave anyone indifferent. After all, this is creativity talented person who loves life, loves people and wishes them all peace and happiness.