by Julia Symmes Cobb
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombian artist Fernando Botero, one of the world’s richest artists, famous for the comical curves of his creations, his voluminous subjects and their exaggerated proportions, has died at the age of 91.
“The painter of our traditions and our faults, the painter of our virtues. The painter of our violence and peace,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on X, the former Twitter social network.
His series of paintings on the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, based on victims’ testimonies and photos taken of the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers, sparked heated debates in the art world . He also looked at the civil conflict in Colombia and political caricatures.
Over the course of his career, Botero sought to make his work accessible, donating more than 200 works, valued at over two million dollars each, to create the Botero Museum in Bogota.
At age 80, he painted at least eight hours a day. “I want to die painting,” he told the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo the year he turned 80.
(Reporting Julia Symmes Cobb; French version Mariana Abreu)
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