On September 15, before 2023, Fernando Botero Angulo woke up and already knew that he was going to go to the studio to work wherever he was. There was no destination, no house, no apartment, no room in which he was not accompanied by his profession as an artist, which, as he said, he wanted to practice until his last breath. Surely on a day like today he would read the news from his beloved Colombia, with details and a little incredulity, and exchange interesting news with a wide variety of people: collectors, gallery owners, journalists, people from high society, but also with people who approached him out of simplicity and humility. It is possible that during these days he received a letter from the municipality of San Cristóbal, a district of Medellín, asking him for a sculpture as a gift for the inauguration of the new library. The big and extraordinary things happened in his life with the greatest naturalness.
Art is everything, it was everything to him. His great driving force, his obsession, his way of looking at life and easing the pain. Although he was a man who valued success as we know it today, his human side was always present and that is why he let it be known that despite all the bright lights and flashes, there was still a piece of emptiness within him. . For this reason, he has never stopped conquering new lands, conquering new viewers, researchers and, above all, followers, those simple and spontaneous people who have a photo next to one of his sculptures, who line up in museums to understand his magic and to wonder if it is volume and sensuality that attracts her so much. For Maestro Botero, proximity was a key, a way of doing and being. And this is evident in the plaza that bears his name, in the way he walked the streets of his beloved Medellín, in the works he carried out and of which he left no doubt when he spoke about them to be a committed Colombian.
On this September 15, 2023, the day he is no longer here, his absence is filled with all the people his presence touched. In Medellín, in the Museum of Antioquia, one had the impression that he was above all the artist of the people, the artist of affection, beauty and apparent simplicity. That there was no room to feel uncomfortable in his presence, nor in his works. That he was and is the host of the art festival, that he keeps the conversations with the artists of the past, with his beloved teachers alive, and that he activates those long reflections on color, figure, life in each work.
Philanthropy and the search for peace were his hallmarks as a citizen of Colombia. It is no exaggeration to say that he is the artist who has made the greatest contribution to the field of art in this country, from his donations and contributions to cultural management. His voice was raised decisively when necessary, no doubt with judgment, marking a healthy distance from those who make art a tool for special interests. His voice was warm and clear when it came to protection, care and reassurance. He made distance an attribute, since it was only a matter of a number of kilometers or hours of flight; he was the most present, the best writer of letters and messages. When their messages arrived, a new lesson was initiated for everyone.
An artist of this dimension is a privilege for a country, for a city like Medellín. Without complexes, with a broad perspective, he crossed the border, he fulfilled the dream that rests in these mountains: progress. He did it even beyond what this Antiochian culture prescribes, he fulfilled it and left a path that we can follow and hopefully renew our own principles based on its constants: closeness, integrity, courage, generosity. Thank you, teacher Fernando Botero.
Maria del Rosario Escobar She is director of the Museum of Antioquia.
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