The remains of painter and sculptor Fernando Botero, who died in Monte Carlo on Friday, will be flown to Colombia to be mourned, his son Juan Carlos Botero said.
The artist died at the age of 91 due to complications from pneumonia. His death occurred in Monaco, where he spent his later years.
Juan Carlos Botero told Blu radio station that his father “wanted to say goodbye to his people, his town” and that one of his “last wishes” was to say goodbye to the man he was born in 1932 of Colombia.
“He thanks the people of Colombia because this is his raw material, his main source of inspiration, and he wants to do this. We will take him to Bogotá and Medellín so that people have the opportunity,” the artist’s son said on Monday. Say goodbye to him and he can say goodbye to his people. ” Several works by the artist still exist in both cities.
Juan Carlos Botero also commented that in recent years his father suffered from Parkinson’s disease, but this did not prevent him from painting, since he did not suffer from the symptoms of the disease like others Experiencing persistent tremors in the extremities. patients with this disease.
After a memorial service is planned in Colombia, the painter and sculptor’s remains will be returned to Pietrasanta, a town in northwestern Italy where he lived and created most of his works and where his wife Sofia Vari is also buried over there. He will be cremated there and placed next to his emotional partner who died last May.
Botero’s popular style was characterized by large numbers of figures, and he depicted in paintings and sculptures Colombian culture, religion, power and figures associated with bullfighting, another of his passions.
Botero had children Fernando, Lina and Juan Carlos from his first marriage to cultural manager Gloria Zea. His son Pedro, the child from his second marriage to Cecilia Zambrano, died in childhood.