Exploring the legacy of Fernando Botero in Colombia

Tourists enjoy the Museo Botero in Bogota. PHOTO COURTESY: Colombia es Pasion

Although painter and sculptor Fernando Botero, Colombia’s most famous living artist, spends much of his time these days abroad, his legacy in his native land is secure. It’s a legacy that Colombia is happy to share with visitors.

The two primary places to enjoy Botero’s works are Plaza Botero in his native Medellin and the Museo Botero in central Bogota. I recently had the opportunity to visit both with a group of journalists who were guests of Colombia tourism officials.

Plaza Botero

Botero was born in Medellin on April 19, 1932. He left the city at the age of 19, but he has donated 23 large bronze sculptures to his hometown, which displays them proudly in the Plaza de las Esculturas (Plaza of Sculptures), commonly called Plaza Botero.

The Rapto de Europa in Medellin's Plaza Botero. PHOTO: Dennis D. Jacobs

Even a cursory stroll through the plaza makes it clear that Botero loves to exaggerate the proportions of his subjects, making them all look… well… fat.

Though he is not beyond tackling highly-charged political issues in his work, such as the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, most of Botero’s creations exhibit a loving playfulness. An example here, even though it's from a dark myth, is the Rapto de Europa  from 1991. Botero displays the nude Europa (his female figures are almost always in some degree of undress) sitting unknowingly on the back of Zeus, who has transformed himself into a bull to carry her away.

The Museo de Antioquia in the Palacio Municipal on the plaza contains more of Botero’s works. Admission is $8,000 COP (about $4 US) for adults and $4,000 COP for students. The museum opens at 10 a.m. daily and closes at 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Museo Botero

The Botero museum in Bogota features not only an impressive collection of his work, but also many items from his private art collection, including paintings by Chagall, Renoir, and Picasso.

Botero's The Letter (1976) on display in the Museo Botero in Bogota. PHOTO: Dennis D. Jacobs

Our guide in Bogota, Manuel Parada, seemed particularly drawn to one of Botero’s relatively early works, The Letter (1976). It depicts a naked woman reclining cross-wise on a bed. Slices of an orange lie next to her, waiting to be eaten, but she appears preoccupied with the letter she holds in her right hand.

“I don’t know what happened in the letter,” Parada said. “This is a big question mark about The Letter.”

He said Botero has never revealed the contents of the letter, but it appears the news is sad, as the woman rests her head in her left hand, a melancholy and perhaps slightly wistful expression on her face.

A year after producing The Letter, Botero paid homage to Leonardo da Vinci with his own version of the Mona Lisa. Like the original, Botero’s Mona Lisa attracts a lot of interest from museum visitors.

Another favorite is The Studio (1990). Dominating the foreground of this painting is the backside of a nude woman posing for a portrait. In the background is the artist himself, peering out from behind his canvas.

The Botero Museum is part of the Banco de la Republica museum complex located at Calle 11 No. 4-41 in central Bogota’s La Candelaria neighborhood. Admission is free.

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La Candelaria: The heart of Bogota

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