De Enciclopedia | La Red Cultural del Banco de la República
Timeline
- 1932: Born in Medellín, Antioquia.
- 1936: His father David Botero, who would later become a recurring subject of his work, dies at the age of 40.
- 1949: Works as an illustrator for the newspaper El Colombiano of Medellín.
- 1950: Participates in the Salon of Antioquian Painters held at the Institute of Fine Arts in Medellin.
- 1951: First exhibition in Bogota at the Leo Matiz Art Gallery.
- 1952: Obtains the second prize in the IX National Artists' Salon with the painting Frente al mar (In Front of the Sea), 1952. He journeys to Europe to train as a painter.
- 1955: Returns to Colombia and settles in Bogotá. Exhibits at the National Library in Bogota.
- 1956: Travels and settles in Mexico to continue his training as a painter.
- 1957: Shares the second prize in painting at the X National Artists’ Salon with Alejandro Obregón and Jorge Elías Triana with Alejandro Obregón for the oil painting Contrapunto (1957).
- 1958: The inaugural exhibition of the Luis Angel Arango Library in Bogotá enjoys Botero's participation with Mandolina sobre una silla (Mandolin on a Chair), 1957.
- First prize in the XI National Artists’ Salon with the oil painting La camera degli sposi (Homage to Mantegna) (1958).
- 1959: Represents Colombia at the fifth São Paulo Biennial along with Enrique Grau, Alejandro Obregón, Eduardo Ramírez Villamizar, Armando Villegas y Guillermo Wiedemann.
- 1960: Guggenheim International Award for the painting Arzodiablomaquia (1960). Settles in New York.
- 1961: His work Monalisa a los doce años (Mona Lisa at Age Twelve), 1959, is acquired by the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
- 1962: Solo show at The Contemporaries in New York.
- 1964: Solo show at the Bogotá Museum of Modern Art (MAMBO).
- 1966: First solo show in Europe at Staatliche Kunsthalle from Baden Baden, Alemania.
- 1967: His work La familia presidencial (The Presidential Family), 1967, is acquired by the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
- 1976: A retrospective exhibition is held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Caracas. The Venezuelan government awards him the Order of Andrés Bello.
- 1977: Obtains the Cross of Boyacá in the grade of Officer. He exhibits his sculptures for the first time at the Grand Palais in Paris. The Pedrito Botero hall in the Museum of Antioquia is inaugurated with a donation of 16 works by the artist, as a tribute to his son who died in 1974.
- 1980: Sets up a residence in Pietrasanta, Italia, where he produces his sculpture in bronze and marble.
- 1984: Donates a sculpture hall to the Museum of Antioquia in Medellín and the National Library of Colombia in Bogotá.
- 1987: A retrospective exhibition of his work is held at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid.
- 1992: Presents 32 sculptures at Champs-Elysées in Paris.
- 1993: Sculptures exhibited along Fifth Avenue in New York.
- Presents the exhibition La corrida at the Luis Ángel Arango Library in Bogotá.
- 1995: A terrorist attack targets the sculpture El pájaro (The Bird) in San Antonio Square in Medellín, killing 30 people.
- 1998: Presents 24 sculpture at Praça do Comércio in Lisbon.
- 2000: Donates 208 of his own works and his collection of international art to Banco de la República in Bogotá, thus creating the Botero Museum. A donation of 108 works is made to the Museo de Antioquia in Medellín as well. Plaza Botero in Medellín opens with 23 of his sculptures.
- 2004: Donates a series of works on violence called El dolor de Colombia (Colombia's Pain) to Colombia's National Museum of Bogotá.
- 2007: Donates the 47 works of his series Abu Ghraib (2005) to the University of California, Berkeley.
- 2012: Retrospective exhibition at Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. He donates the series El Viacrucis (The Way of the Cross), 2011, to the Museo de Antioquia in Medellín.
- 2015: Exhibition El circo (The Circus) in Medellín.
- 2015-2016: Anthological exhibition at China's National Museum in Beijing and the China Art Museum in Shanghai. Exhibits the series Boterosutra (2013) at Musée Würth in Erstein, France.
- 2018: Exhibition El joven maestro. Botero, obra temprana (The Young Master)
- 2020: Botero Museum in Bogotá turns 20.
