Fernando Botero Angulo (born 19 April 1932); Colombian figurative artist and sculptor. Born in Medellín, his signature style, also known as "Boterismo", depicts people and figures in large, exaggerated volume, which can represent political criticism or humor, depending on the piece. He is considered the most recognized and quoted living artist from Latin America, and his art can be found in highly visible places around the world, such as Park Avenue in New York City and the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Self-titled "the most Colombian of Colombian artists" early on, he came to national prominence when he won the first prize at the Salón de Artistas Colombianos in 1958. Working most of the year in Paris, in the last 3 decades he has achieved international recognition for his paintings, drawings and sculpture, with exhibitions across the world. His art is collected by many major international museums, corporations, and private collectors. In 2012, he received the International Sculpture Center's Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award. Born the second of 3 sons, his father, a salesman who traveled by horseback, died of a heart attack when Fernando was 4.... In 1944, Botero's uncle sent him to a school for matadors for 2 years. In 1948, Botero at 16 had his first illustrations published in the Sunday supplement of the El Colombiano, one of the most important newspapers in Medellín. ...While his work includes still-lifes and landscapes, Botero has concentrated on situational portraiture. His paintings and sculptures are united by their proportionally exaggerated, or "fat" figures, as he once referred to them. He explains his use of these "large people", as they are often called by critics, in the following way: "An artist is attracted to certain kinds of form without knowing why. You adopt a position intuitively; only later do you attempt to rationalize or even justify it." He is an abstract artist... (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Botero) undefined

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