Obituary | Life in its fullness

Fernando Botero became famous for his over-size people and animals

But the Colombian painter and sculptor, who died on September 15th, had a different agenda

Portrait of Colombian artist, Fernando Botero.
Image: Alamy

It all began with a mandolin, in Mexico, in the late 1950s. A casual mandolin, lying on a table. When Fernando Botero started to draw it, suddenly, on an impulse, he made the sound-hole tiny. The effect was dramatic. The mandolin seemed to swell with its own importance. He painted it several times, sometimes with its plumpness bolstered by a fat book and a snug, solid trumpet. Had the musicians who owned these objects wandered onto one of his canvases, they too would have loomed peculiarly large in their loose-fitting suits and hats. A new style, Boterismo, had been born.

This article appeared in the Obituary section of the print edition under the headline “Life in its fullness”

From the September 30th 2023 edition

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