If you like humorous paintings and sculptures of chunky, flabby and completely obese people and animals that bury deeper meaning below the surface of fat rolls, the Botero Museum in Bogotá is most certainly for you! If that’s not your thing, it’s still for you!
The museum, which houses the personal collection of Colombian artist Fernando Botero, is located in the heart of the Candelaria neighborhood in pleno centro Bogotá in a beautiful colonial building not far from the Plaza de Bolívar. If you still don’t think you would be interested, only about half of his collection contains his own works. The other half includes paintings by Dalí, Picasso and Monet, among others.
Botero, a native of Medellín, Colombia (the second largest city in Colombia behind Bogotá), is very well known worldwide for his unique and immediately recognizable style of art. His works can be found in dozens and dozens of countries from Japan to Germany to Wisconsin to Colombia.
For those of you who have been to Spain, Botero is responsible for that weird, giant hand in the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid.
One interesting tidbit about Botero is that he is the self-proclaimed “most Colombian of Colombian artists,” even though he has not resided in Colombia since the 1970s.
Here are some my favorite Botero works.
Adam and Eve (if they were from Texas)
El Presidente
El Presidente...takin' a little nap!
The Mona Lisa (I swear her chunky little eyes always seem to be looking at you)
A giant hand that is taller than me!
?? I don't know, but that baby is about to eat her ear.
Manuel Marulanda “Tirofijo” - 1999
National Cathedral - Plaza de Bolívar - 1948
National Cathedral
Capital Building
Thanks for reading! Saludos desde Bogotá!
