The Increased Appreciation of the Work of Fernando Botero

Art is always an exaggeration in some sense; in color, in form, even in theme, etc…but it has always been this way.
- Fernando Botero

The work of Columbian artist Fernando Botero has always been prized and appreciated, but in the last few years there has been a sharp rise in sales and value of his paintings and sculptures.

 

According to data from Artnet Analytics, total auction sales of his work more than doubled between 2020 and and 2023, rising from $9.7 million to $21.2 million. By the end of 2024, that record was surpassed with $25.1 million in auction sales.

 

 

One explanation for the upsurge in sales, is the increased global interest in Botero’s work.

 

Although Botero was born and raised in Medellin, Columbia, he traveled, studied and lived in Barcelona, Madrid, Mexico City, New York and Paris, and felt rooted in his home country. “My subject matter is Columbia and has always been Columbia; I have lived many years in New York, in Paris,” he said, “and I have never had the feeling to paint an American or a French subject matter. The thing is that the art - and the artist - must have roots in his own land, in his own life: my life is in Columbia, and my land is Columbia.”

 

Viewing the works of masters like Velázquez, Goya, Titian, and Picasso. had a profound effect on Botero. He often copied them when visiting museums. He said that his style of exaggerating figures came to him while he was working on a still life. “I was drawing a mandolin, and I made the sound hole very small, which made the mandolin look gigantic. I saw that making the details small made the form monumental. So, in my figures, the eyes, the mouth are all small and the exterior form is huge.”

 

Botero had early success with his paintings and later success with his sculptures, which can be found in cities around the world, including Miami, where a Botero sculpture can be found in the Nader Sculpture Park that opened last December.

 

The Palau Martorell Museum in Barcelona has opened the city's first-ever exhibition dedicated to Fernando Botero. More than 110 pieces by the artist are on display, most of which have never been seen before, as they belong to private collections. Fernando Botero: A Universal Maestro will be on exhibit at Palau Martorell through July 20, 2025.

 

Fernando Botero died in Monte Carlo, Monaco on September 15, 2023, at the age of 91.

 

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Please contact us if you would like more information about the paintings and sculptures of Fernando Botero available at Surovek Gallery.

 

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March 20, 2025