Biography of Fernando Botero

On April 19, 1932 born Fernando Botero in Medelln , capital of Antioquia Department , Colombia, home made by David Botero (1 895 - 1 936), an active trader who traveled from neighboring provinces on horseback - the only way transport available then, and Flora Angulo of Botero . (1898-1972). A woman recognized creative craftsmanship, whose sisters - aunts Angle -occupy a special place in the emotional universe of the painter. Has two brothers, John David (1928) and Rodrigo (1936). 1938-1 949. He studied at the College Bolivarian primary school. At twelve years old his uncle Joaquin. bullfighting aficionado. sends it to a school in "slaughter" that operated in the Place de la Macarena de Medelln, Aranguito directed by a flagman. Take his first drawings - bulls and bullfighters - the store of Rafael Perez. where they sell tickets to the bullring. His first book is sold for two pesos. From the hills that frame Medelln. draws and paints on weekends landscapes in watercolor. Admira pre-Columbian art. the baroque churches around you and artists like Jose Clemente Orozco. Mexican muralist school. By this time also discovered Dali and Picasso. In 1948 two of his watercolors are included in a group show at the Institute of Fine Arts in Medellin. 1949 -1950. Botero financed his studies at the Liceo San Jos and the Normal Marinilla with drawings done for the Sunday supplement of El Colombiano, where, after writing an article on Picasso, is fired by maverick. Meet the painter Rafael Saenz, who, among others, shows reproductions of Giotto. Bottle recognizes him as a teacher who was good advice. Designed the scenery for the play Burning Darkness. Bueno Vallejo, mounted by the Spanish group Teatro Lope de Vega, who was touring the country. Collaborate on the radio program "Panorama Intellectual," in which young intellectuals facing the country and the traditional. Installs in Bogot, where it joins the artistic vanguard and participates in several group exhibitions. 1951. He makes his first solo exhibition at the Leo Matiz Gallery. The painter Ignacio Gomez Jaramillo, the poet Len de Greiff and the writer Jorge Zalamea interested in their work. This year she traveled to Tolu. on the Caribbean coast. There, in Garca Isolinia pension pay your bills on a mural. Finish by painting on sheets that were embroidered with the monogram of his mother. His work now reflects the influence of Gauguin and the pink and blue periods of Pablo Picasso. 1952. Return to Bogota. Open a presentation in which he sells all the tables. Also obtained the second prize at the Ninth Annual Salon of Colombian Artists. Eddy Torres's editorial published a monograph of his work. It is the first book to appear on his work. The artist is only 20 years. In the port of Buenaventura takes the Italian ship "Using DiMare." Arrives in Barcelona and then goes to Madrid. where he studied for a time at the Academy of San Fernando. El Prado is the encounter with Velazquez and Goya. Help do your budget paint copies for tourists. 1953-1954. Spends summers in Paris. and the Louvre studying the great masters. Travel to Italy. Florence is part of the Academy of San Marcos. attends the Roberto Longhi conferences on art history. issue since it excites and nourishes. "My years in Florence regard as the most important in my training." In the museums of Rome. Florence, Venice. Siena and Ravenna are familiar with Italian Renaissance art and made a deep study of fourteenth-century Italian art. axis of his painting. Lee Berenson and learn about the tactile values and the representation of the volumes. makes a

journey to discover the most important Italian frescoes and applied to study their techniques. Appropriates the total plasticity that transmit Piero della Francesca - 'In the fullness of form, spatial organization and color harmony. It is the best example of local color in the painting "- Paolo Uccello -" Because of his passion for geometry, which means for me the serenity of the painting - Tiziano - "In his painting is a co-lor is like an expression of nature '-. Ingres, Giotto, Masaccio. "Studying these artists, I gradually gained greater clarity about what the space and volume meant. I stressed the desire for the huge. so strong and monumental as -.

l955.

Return to Bogota. In the National Library presents an exhibition of his works in Italy, which is not received with great enthusiasm. In that year he married Gloria arteias. 1956. He settled in Mexico, where he focuses on pre-Columbian art and the work of the Mexican surrealist, that appeal because it seemed that this was the essence of Latin America. This is where the work of painting 'Still Life with Mandolin , he discovers the possibility of increasing the volume of chunky. " One day, completely exhausted, I made a small mark on the center of a mandolin that had been drawing .... The small circle that the artist had done to make the sound quality of the mandolin, the instrument gave him the strength to go to lead the meeting of the proportion "Boteros" which then develops throughout his work. "It was like going through a door into another room." First exhibition in the United States as part of a group show at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas, His son Fernando. 1957. Travel to New York with $ 200 in his pocket and settled in Greenwich Village. "I was attracted to the energy of the city and the demand for quality that demanded a place that had a flood of talent." Interested in De Kooning and Dubuffet by the generosity of the gesture and matter. He travels to Washington. Here the Pan American Union is sponsoring his first solo exhibition in the United States. Return to Bogota. Won second prize at the X Annual Salon of Colombian Artists. 1958. He was appointed professor at the School of Fine Arts of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota. Awarded the first prize in the X / Colombian Artists Annual Exhibition with his work The bridal chamber (Homage to Mantegna) No.1 opens with his first solo success in the Gres Gallery in Washington. His work is included in the XXIX Venice Biennale. Birth of his daughter Lina. 1959.

He represented Colombia at the V Bienal de Sao Paulo, Brazil, along with artists Enrique Grau, Alejandro Obregon and Eduardo Ramrez Villamizar. 1960.

Paints his great fresco in the Banco Central Hipotecario de Medelln. His son Juan Carlos. Serving as a juror in the Miss Universe contest in Miami. Selected to represent Colombia at the II Biennial of Mexico, the event raised such controversy with other colleagues refuse to participate and open, however, an exhibition in Bogota, entitled 25 paintings and reliefs (Painters excluded itself from the II Bienal de Mexico), the end of the year, is set in the city of New York. Wins the Colombian participation in the famous Guggenheim International Award exhibition 1960. Botero in this city is going through a very difficult period of his career. It is the apogee of abstract painting. as if one is not an abstract painter not a painter. "For years I believed in myself and what I was doing terrible against criticism. In the News Journal said, for example, that my figures were 'Mussolini fetuses with a stupid peasant. " The Art Magazine treated me better, he said that my painting was a 'monument to stupidity. " And these were the speakers of my work in relation to my work because the others spoke of the 'caricatures' of Botero ... In the midst of this storm. I kept my faith in me in my work. "Separated from Antei Glory. 1961. E1 Museum of Modern Art in New York Mona Lisa takes her work at the age of twelve years (1958). 1962. Individual exhibition at the Gres Gallery in Chicago. 1963 The Museum of Modern Art in New York presents the Mona Lisa at the age of twelve years, coinciding with the exhibition of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci at the Metropolitan Museum. 1964. Awarded second prize in the First Exhibition of Young Artists Intercol. held at the Museum of Modern Art in Bogot. Botero achieves consistent and moderate touch required to reach the master painter, in paintings such as La Familia Pinzn. "What interests me is to exalt the sensuality of the form associated with tactile values." This year Marries Cecilia Zambrano. 1966. Solo exhibition in Baden-Baden and Hanover. In the Milkwauke Art Center holds its first former position in a U.S. museum, with a retrospective. Time magazine published a rave about his work. 1967-1968. He divides his time between Bogota, New York and Europe. Munich and Nuremberg in studying the works of Durer. From this period are the Durer-boatmen. He is also interested in the work of Manet and Bonnard, though constantly asserts its Latin American origins. "I want to be able to paint everything, even Marie Antoinette and Louis XV, but with the hope that everything I do is steeped in American soul."

1969. Exhibits at the Center for Inter American Relations in New York. and in September opened the first solo exhibition of his works in Paris. Claude Bernard in the gallery. 1970. Opens in Baden-Baden, Germany, a traveling retrospective exhibition of 80 works. traveling by four other museums in the country exhibited at London's Hanover Gallery. "From this time many galleries became interested in my work." His son Peter. 1971. Moved his studio in New York on Calle 30. Rent an apartment in Paris on 5 Boulevard du Palais. Opened a studio in Bogot. 1972. He makes his first solo exhibition at the Gallery Mayrl borough of New York. 1973. Settled permanently in Paris. Made his first sculptures. Organized his first retrospective in Bogota. 1974. Exhibition at Hannover, Medelln and Zurich. In a car crash in Spain dies, his son Peter, aged four. Botero is injured .. 1975. Exhibits in Caracas, Rotterdam, New York, Toronto and Montreal. It is separated from Cecilia Zambrano. 1976. He exhibited in Paris. Retrospective Opens in Caracas. Venezuela's president imposed by the Order of Andrs Bello. Exhibits in Washington and Bogota. Devotes all his time to sculpture. "Sculpture is a natural outgrowth of my work as a painter where volume has always been present." 1977. Colombia's government awarded the Cruz de Boyac. in the rank of Officer. In memory of her missing son. Pedrito room opens Botero in the Museo de Antioquia. Botero donates 16 works to the room. Opens first solo show of sculpture at the Fourth International Fair of Contemporary Art (FLAC) in Paris, works in the series of paintings entitled Margarita, inspired by Velsquez. 1978 Moves his studio in Paris which was part of the former headquarters of the Acadmie Julian. This year, joins his life with the Greek artist Sophia Vail, a prominent painter, sculptor and jewelry designer. 1979.

Hirshhorn Museum Opens in Washington his first major retrospective in the United States. Make exhibitions in Belgium. Norway, Sweden. 1980. Install a residence and a sculpture studio in Pietra-santa, Italy, a region famous for its marble quarries and foundries. Commissioned by French Vogue painted a series of women, worn by great designers in the world. Exhibits watercolors, drawings and sculptures in Basel. Works with notes and illustrations in the newspaper El Tiempo, Bogota. 1981. Retrospective Exhibition Opens in Tokyo and Osaka. In Rome to present a show of watercolors and drawings, whose catalog has an essay by Alberto Moravia. Exhibits in New York. San Francisco and Chicago.1982. Exhibition Opens in Bogota and New York. The latter sample is also taken to Houston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston. 1983. Basel Exhibition at an exhibition of paintings, drawings and watercolors. In London opened an exhibition of his latest work. 1984. Chicago opens an exhibition of sculpture which is then carried to New York. Ithaca opens a show of drawings and sculptures, and sculpture Utica sample is taken to Scranton and Lafayette. Donate to the Museum of Antioch a room of sculptures and 18 paintings at the National Library of Bogot.Por this time basically painted bullfighting scenes. "I have dared to paint the race because I know the subject very well. One can not paint if there is a relationship between the theme and the soul. This gives a certain moral authority. This item comes to me by blood. For life ". 1985. In the Marlborough Gallery in New York presents its large sculptures, as well as his series of paintings on the theme of La Corrida. Exhibition Opens in Coral Gables and the Museum of Ponce, San Juan de Puerto Rico. 1986. Opens a large retrospective exhibition in Munich, which is taken to Bremen and Frankfurt.Expone in Albany, Tokyo and Caracas. 1987. El Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, opens a retrospective of his work. He also exhibits at Bogot and Hamburg. In Milan exhibits his series of paintings on the theme of La Corrida. 1988. We present a series of paintings on the theme of La Corrida, Naples and Palermo. 1989.

Presents his series of paintings on the theme of La Corrida in Coro, Caracas and Mexico. He exhibited his sculptures at the Art Fair in Los Angeles and then in New York and Mexico. 1990. Exposed in Belgium. Opens a retrospective in Switzerland and displays his recent sculptures in New York. 1991. Exhibition opened in Berlin, Florence and Tokyo. In Rome presents the retrospective exhibition of paintings, drawings and sculptures on the theme of La Corrida. Send her sculptures at the Biennial of Monte Carlo. 1992. Sevilla opens an exhibition and a retrospective in Vienna. In September his monumental sculptures are exhibited in Monte Carlo. In Paris, he shows his series of paintings on the theme of La Corrida, as well as recent works on paper and small sculptures. On the Champs Elysees are displayed in October this ao.32 of monumental sculptures. Jacques Chirac said. French President: "Botero is. in fact, the link between two continents at once different and complementary, between two worlds: the western and teachers of the Latin American tradition ... The characters, the generic forms of Botero their women full of sensuality. of sweetness, strength, paradoxically, their creations. incestuous and impressive at the same time, they will encourage an unpaid way the Champs Elysees. " 1993. Exhibition opens at the Palace of the Popes in Avignon, which is taken to Moscow's Pushkin Museum and State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. His monumental sculptures are exhibited along the famous Park Avenue in New York. 1994. Retrospective opens at the Museum of Art, Helsinki. Exhibits in New York, Chicago and Fort Lauder dale - Abduction of Europa. New York. Opened an exhibition at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Buenos Aires, while a sample of his large sculptures in the gardens of the Museum. In Madrid, his monumental sculptures are on display in the Paseo de Recoletos. 1995 He exhibited in Belgium, Paris and Beverly Hills. In Japan, opening a traveling show that travels around the country. 1996. His works are still touring the world: Jerusalem. New York, Washington. Berlin, Caracas. Kyongju. Set and costume designs for the opera The Daughter of the Regiment Donizetti Caetano. co-produced by Monte Carlo, Geneva and Dusseldorf. 1997.

Exhibition opens in Santiago de Chile, Rome, Madrid and Lugano 1998. He exhibited his monumental sculptures in Commerce Square in Lisbon. This year also presents in Sao Paulo and Basel. 1999. In an unprecedented recognition, Botero is invited to exhibit their work in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence. distinction, so far only has been given to him. Simultaneously displays paintings and sculptures of small format in the Arms Hall of the Palazzo Vecchio. This year also exhibits his work in Caracas. Monterrey and Tel Aviv. 2000. Decides to give his hometown a large collection of 85 works of authorship and 21 international artists. His generosity with the culture of their land raises the municipal administration's response, which is committed to make a great museum to house the master's work. Time. fundamental changes occur that prompt major urban interventions for the recovery of the city center. where they built the new Museum of Antioquia, one of the dreams of Botero. Sophia Vari and Loving Botero .. In the same year delivered to Bogota, the capital of Colombia, 136, and 52 works by famous artists from her private collection, among which are paintings by Picasso, Gauguin, Renoir, Dali, Manet, Corot, among others. Then began the expansion of the Library. Luis Angel Arango for the exhibition of new work, commitment assumed by the Bank of the Republic. Before the final transfer of these works to Colombia, the artist brings all your donations in the Exhibition Hall of the Fundacin Santander Central Hispano, Madrid, Spain. In this year held an exhibition of monumental sculptures in Pietrasanta, Italy and a retrospective of 100 works in the Palazzo Bricherasio Turin.
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