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Fernando Botero dies at 91: what was the Colombian artist’s cause of death?
A week of mourning has been declared in Medellín after it was confirmed that Colombian painter and sculptor Fernando Botero has died.
The Colombian painter and sculptor Fernando Botero, who was best known for depicting corpulent, outsized figures in his works, has died at the age of 91.
Botero had been suffering from pneumonia in recent days, his daughter Lina told an interview with the Colombian broadcaster W Radio on Friday.
Botero “passed away peacefully”, daughter says
“He died peacefully,” she said. “My daughter and I were with him holding his hand, he took his last breath and he passed away peacefully. He had such an extraordinary life.
“Now he’s with Sophia, the love of his life, his companion for 48 years, who also passed away this year.” Botero’s second wife, the Greek artist Sophia Vari, died in May.
Botero, who lived in Monaco, had had to contend with Parkinson’s disease in recent years. “Thankfully, his Parkinson’s didn’t make him shake, so he had the immeasurable good fortune of being able to carry on working right up until the final day of his life,” Lina told W Radio.
“His life, his work will last forever”
Writing on X, the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter, Colombian president Gustavo Petro described Botero as “the painter of our traditions and defects, the painter of our virtues. The painter of our violence and of peace.”
Medellín, the city where Botero was born, has declared a week of mourning. Its mayor, Daniel Quintero, posted on X: “His life, his work, his love for Medellín and Colombia, will last forever.”
Botero’s career: a look back
Born in 1932, Botero studied in Madrid in the early 50s, before moving to Paris and then Florence. While in Europe, he was heavily influenced by the paintings of Old Masters such as Fernando de Goya and Diego Velázquez.
He began living in New York in 1960, and in the 70s returned to the French capital, where he started to create sculptures alongside his paintings.
Botero examined issues such as the drug-related violence in Colombia, the artist’s notable works including 1999′s The Death of Pablo Escobar, a painting that shows the Colombian drug lord being fatally shot.
Botero’s most famous pieces also include 2005′s Abu Ghraib series, which looked at US soldiers’ torture of Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib prison.
Sculptures by the artist can be found on the streets both of his native Medellín, and cities around the world, including London, Madrid, Barcelona and Seattle.
“I’ve painted violence, torture...”
“Art should cause pleasure - a certain tendency towards a positive feeling,” Botero told the Spanish newspaper El País in 2019. “But I’ve painted dramatic things. I’ve painted violence, torture, the passion of the Christ… There’s a different kind of pleasure in dramatic paintings.”