Botero

The great Colombian artist is the protagonist of a prestigious retrospective, the most comprehensive ever held in Rome, hosted in the rooms of Palazzo Bonaparte.

The Medellìn-born figurative artist and sculptor, who recently passed away, has always been famous for his unique and distinctive style, known as Boterismo, characterised by bright colours and opulently shaped figures, in which reality is wrapped in a veneer of hyper-realistic ambiguity of South American origin.

On display are medium and large works - including paintings, watercolours and sculptures - that celebrate the art of one of the greatest masters of the post-war period: the exuberant curves of the female universe, between three-dimensional effects and gaudy colours, versions of art masterpieces, including Velázquez's Menine and Raphael's Fornarina, Piero della Francesca's diptych of Montefeltro, Rubens and van Eyck's bourgeois portraits, and paintings dedicated to the classical themes of the circus and corrida in a traditional Hispanic interpretation.

The exhibition path also includes a room hosting Botero's most recent works: delicate ones painted with watercolours on canvas from 2019, resulting from technical experimentation and a different, softer approach to the themes he has always cared about. 

The exhibition is part of a season dedicated to international art that Palazzo Bonaparte is hosting in 2025 on the occasion of the Jubilee and the 25th anniversary of Arthemisia.

Photo: Fernando Botero, Dancer at the Bar, 2001, Oil on canvas, 164x116 cm, Private Collection (detail)