Fernando BoteroFernando BoteroFernando BoteroFernando Botero

1932193219321932 Fernando Botero was born in Medellín, Columbia on April 19. His father, a travelling salesman, died when Fernando was only four years old. 1944194419441944 At the age of 12 Fernando was sent by his uncle to a bullfighting school for two years. But the boy preferred drawing the matadors. 1948194819481948 First participation in an exhibition, drawings for the newspaper El Colombiano. 1949194919491949 His essay “Pablo Picasso and Nonconformity in Art” led to his expulsion from school. 1950 1950 1950 1950 He finished school at the Liceo San José in Marinilla; composed set designs for a theatre company touring Colombia. 1951/19521951/19521951/19521951/1952 Fernando Botero moved to the capital, Bogotá. He presented his first solo exhibition at the Leo Matiz gallery. His second exhibition there showed his art work from the Caribbean coast. Botero achieved the second prize in the Salon of Colombian Artists in Bogotá. With the prize money Botero decided to travel to Spain. In Madrid he inscribed at the Academia de Bellas Artes San Fernando. At the Museo del Prado he studied the paintings of Velàzquez, Goya, Tizian and Tintoretto - they became an important source of inspiration for Botero. From Madrid he went to Paris, where he lived in a small apartment on Place des Vosges. 1953/19541953/19541953/19541953/1954 Florence, Italy. He was fascinated by the fresco paintings of the Italian Renaissance and studied fresco techniques. 1955/19561955/19561955/19561955/1956 Return to Bogotá, his works were exhibited at the Biblioteca Nazionale. He married Gloria Zea, the couple moved to Mexico City, where their son Fernando was born. 1951951951957777 Botero painted a still life with a voluminous mandolin; he had found his own style. First solo exhibition in the United States in Washington, D.C. at the Pan-American Union. 1958195819581958 Birth of his daughter Lina. The Bogotá Academy appointed Botero professor of painting; he taught there until 1960. 1959195919591959 Botero was awarded the Guggenheim prize and represented his country at the Sao Paulo Biennial. 1960196019601960 He painted his first large-scale fresco in the Banco Central in Medellín. His son Juan Carlos was born. Botero's nomination to represent Colombia at the II Biennale del Mexico met with violent opposition. He moved to New York with very little money, renting a loft in Greenwich Village. Gres Gallery which had until granted him support, closed down. Divorce from his wife Gloria. 1961196119611961 The MoMA in New York acquired Botero’s painting "Mona Lisa, Age 12". His first exhibition in New York at "The Contemporaries" earned massive criticism. 1962/19651962/19651962/19651962/1965 Botero participated in various exhibitions in New York and created paintings after Rubens' portraits. In 1964 he married Cecilia Zambrano 1966196619661966 The Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Germany showed Botero’s first major European exhibition. Exhibitions in Munich and Hannover followed. The Milwaukee Art Center presented Recent Works by Botero, very positively reviewed by Time magazine. 1967 1967 1967 1967 On his visit to Germany, Botero was fascinated by Albrecht Dürer. He also studied Edouard Manet's painting "Le déjeuner sur l’herbe".

1969/19721969/19721969/19721969/1972 Exhibition at the Center for Inter-American Relations in New York; German museums organized further exhibitions of his works. In 1970, his son Pedro was born in New York. From 1971 on, Botero divided his time between Paris, Bogotá and his new studio in New York. 1973197319731973 In Paris Botero shaped his first sculptures. He finally left New York to go on living in Paris. 1974/19751974/19751974/19751974/1975 His son Pedro from his second marriage, lost his life in a road accident in Spain at the age of four. Botero accomplished numerous works in memory of his little son. He and Cecilia were divorced. 1919191976/197876/197876/197876/1978 Botero married Sophia Vari, a Greek artist. In 1977 he received the "Croce di Boyacá" for his services to Columbia. He opened a room dedicated to his son Pedro at the Museo di Antioquia with 17 of his works Botero donated to the museum. For the first time his sculptures were exhibited in Paris. 1979/19821979/19821979/19821979/1982 Various European countries organized exhibitions of Botero’s paintings and sculptures. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington exposed a major retrospective. Another retrospective was shown in Tokyo and Osaka in 1981. 1983198319831983 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York acquired Dance in Colombia. Botero found a studio in Pietrasanta, Italy, close to the Carrara marble quarries. For several months a year he works there with bronze foundries and marble studios. 1984/19861984/19861984/19861984/1986 Botero donated several of his sculptures to the Museo di Antioquia in Medellín and 18 paintings to the Museo Nacional di Bogotá. He was predominantly concerned with the subject of the corrida, the Spanish bullfight. 1987/1991987/1991987/1991987/1991111 A major retrospective of his oeuvre was shown at the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid. A travelling exhibition titled "Corrida" was shown at Naples, Palermo and Caracas. A large open air sculpture show was exhibited at the Forte di Belvedere in Florence, Italy. In 1991, a major retrospective was arranged by the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. 1992/19941992/19941992/19941992/1994 The monumental sculpture were shown on the Champs Elysées in Paris, Monte Carlo and on Park Avenue in New York, Chicago, Madrid and other European cities.The corrida paintings were exhibited at the Grand Palais in Paris. Botero barely escaped being kidnapped in Bogotà. 1995199519951995 A bomb placed underneath the bronze sculpture "Bird" by terrorists detonated on market day, killing 23 people and wounding 200. Botero donated a new sculpture to be installed next to the destroyed one as a message of peace. 1996/19981996/19981996/19981996/1998 Exhibitions took place at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Santiago, Chile and at museums in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo and Monterrey. He also exhibited at Galerie Thomas in Munich. 1999 1999 1999 1999 Boteros sculptures are presented on the Piazza della Signoria in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in the historical heart of Florence. 2000 2000 2000 2000 The cities of Medellín and Bogotá received donations of a large number of 19th and 20th century French paintings from Botero’s private collection. 2001/20022001/20022001/20022001/2002 Mexico City held a major retrospective. Travelling exhibition shown in Stockholm and Copenhagen. 2003200320032003 Exhibitions in Den Haag and Paris. In Venice the monumental sculptures were exhibited along the Grand Canal. 2004 2004 2004 2004 Inspired by reports about the mistreatment of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq Botero started painting a new series of pictures. A retrospective exhibition was shown in the Singapore Art Museum. 2020202005 05 05 05 First show of the Abu Ghraib series at Palazzo Venezia in Rome, Italy. 2006 2006 2006 2006 The Kunsthalle Würth at Schwäbisch Hall organized the first large scale retrospective in Germany after twenty years.

2007200720072007 A travelling exhibition is shown (until 2009) at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and nine American institutions. On the occasion of Botero’s 75th birthday on April 19, Galerie Thomas organizes „Global Botero“. On this day Galerie Thomas and six other galleries around the world all open a Botero exhibition. In July a major exhibition of Botero's works was opened at the Palazzo Reale in Milan, Italy. In cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Colombia in Berlin, Galerie Thomas presents an exhibition of Fernando Botero's monumental sculpture on Museumsinsel and in front of the Brandenburger Tor from September to November 2007. Das American University Museum im Katzen Art Center zeigt "Fernando Botero: Abu Ghraib". Die Ausstellung ist in den USA sehr umstritten. 2008200820082008 "Abu Ghraib - El Circo" at the Institut Valencia d'Art Modern (IVA). On June 28 premiere of Peter Schamoni's film "Botero - Born in Medellin" in Munich. The travelling exhibition "The Baroque World of Fernando Botero" was opened in March at the Delaware Art Museum, it then travelled to the New Orleans Museum of Art. 2009200920092009 "The Baroque World of Fernando Botero" at the Naples Museum of Art. 2010201020102010 "The Baroque World of Fernando Botero" arrived in Canada, it was shown at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, 2010/11 at Winnipeg Art Gallery. 2011201120112011 "Botero" exhibition at Bank Austria Kunstforum, Vienna. "The Baroque World of Fernando Botero" at the Toledo Museum of Art. 2016201620162016 The Musée Würth France in Erstein, Alsace presented paintings, and sculptures by Botero. The Berkeley Art Museum showed "Fernando Botero: Art for Human Rights". The Kunsthalle Rotterdam presented "Botero: Celebrate Life", the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome "Fernando Botero: Via Sacra". 2017201720172017 The Museo Vittoriano in Rome mounted a major retrospective of works from 50 years. Fernando Botero lives in Monte Carlo and Pietrasanta.