The life and work of Fernando Botero in Good Dates

First modification: 09/18/2023 – 18:17Last Review: 09/18/2023 – 18:15

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– April 19, 1932: Born in Medellín, Colombia’s second city, he was later considered one of the most important Latin American artists of the 20th century.

– 1948: Published drawings in the Sunday supplement of El Columbiano newspaper.

– 1950: He graduated from the High School of the University of Antioquia.

– 1951: He holds his first solo exhibition of paintings in Bogota.

– 1952: Travels to Barcelona and then Madrid to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando.

– 1953: He travels to Paris and then to Italy, where he enrolls at the Academy of San Marco in Florence.

– 1955: Returns to Bogota; he marries Gloria Zia.

– 1956: Settled in Mexico; their first son, Fernando, was born.

– 1957: Revealed his style through the painting “Still Life with Mandolin”; first solo exhibition in the United States.

– 1958: “Bridal Alcove” wins first prize at the Colombian Hall of Artists; his daughter Lina is born; he is appointed professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bogota.

– 1960: His son Juan Carlos is born; moves to live in New York; he separates from his first wife.

– 1961: Dorothy Miller, director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, acquires “Mona Lisa at 12,” Botero’s take on Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa parodies.

– 1964: He married for the second time to Cecilia Zambrano, divorced in 1975.

– 1969: First exhibition at the Claude Bernard Gallery in Paris.

– 1970: His son Pedro is born in New York.

– 1973: He settled in Paris, where he created his first sculptures.

– 1974: Pedro is killed in a car accident in Spain and the artist is seriously injured. In the future, he will also develop many works to commemorate his son.

– 1976: Mainly devoted to sculpture, creating 25 works in two years; he married Sofia Varry, also a painter and sculptor.

– 1977: His sculptures are exhibited for the first time at the Grand Palais in Paris.

– 1983: A workshop is established in Pietrasanta, Tuscany (Italy), famous for its foundries.

– 1992: First open-air exhibition on the Champs Elysées in Paris. Next is the Grand Canal of Venice, the Pyramids of Egypt, and Park Avenue in New York.

– 2006: Exhibited 87 drawings describing the torture of prisoners by the US military at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

– 2012: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos declares works donated by artists to museums in Bogota and Medellín to be of cultural value.

– 2015: Exhibition in China.

– 2020: Part of his collection of 23 bronze statues in Medellin was damaged by “chemicals” and powdered dyes.

– March 2022: His sculpture “Man on Horseback” sold for $4.3 million at a Christie’s auction, breaking his own record.

– May 5, 2023: His wife Sophia Vari dies.

– September 15, 2023: He died at his home in Monte Carlo, principality of Monaco, at the age of 91, after his health deteriorated due to pneumonia, according to his daughter Lena.

© 2023 AFP