英語名人堂：費(fèi)爾南多·博特羅

年幼時(shí)期，曾拜師學(xué)習(xí)斗牛，立志成為一名斗牛士。16歲時(shí)，發(fā)現(xiàn)繪畫能夠反映人類更強(qiáng)的搏斗精神，而后投身繪畫事業(yè)。初期在麥德林畫院學(xué)習(xí)，后到首都波哥大投奔名門大師。1952年只身赴歐洲學(xué)習(xí)西歐繪畫技巧，曾在圣費(fèi)爾南多畫院接受名師指導(dǎo)，并于1955年在意大利研修西方繪畫。1961年，在美國(guó)紐約舉辦第一次個(gè)人畫展，獲得巨大反響。自1965年后，博特羅繪畫日臻成熟，并自成一派，被人們譽(yù)“博特羅塑料藝術(shù)風(fēng)格”。1966年，他在歐洲舉辦首次畫展，最為著名的“平松一家”獲得高度評(píng)價(jià)，自此，博特羅繪畫作品及風(fēng)格得到世界公認(rèn)。自1978年，他開始在世界各地舉辦巡回展，主要國(guó)家有：挪威、瑞典、美國(guó)、意大利、波多黎各、日本、西班牙、墨西哥、德國(guó)和法國(guó)。

Fernando Botero was born in 1932 in Medellin, Colombia. He paints in the neo-figurative style and calls himself "the most Colombian of Colombian artists". He largely paints large people – figures that are much larger than life in all parts of their body. His critics often call them “fat people”. Botero doesn’t know the reason why he paints such obese forms.

Botero grew up looking at paintings in his local Catholic church. These were in the centuries-old Baroque style and influenced his style. He was never rich enough to visit galleries and see other works. He held his first exhibition when he was 20, in the capital Bogota. He used the money he received to go to Europe to study art.

Throughout the 1960s he lived in New York. He found a new inspiration in the ItalianRenaissance. He began to experiment with creating volume in his figures by expanding them and compressing the space around them. This became his unique and trademark style. In 1997, Colombian terrorists destroyed his sculpture ‘Bird’ in Medellin. Seventeen people died in the attack.

Botero’s works now hang in galleries all over the world. He is guaranteed millions of dollars for each painting he does. His works instantly become collector’s items and many people buy them as investments. In 2005, Botero painted a series of 50 paintings that graphically showed the horror of the events in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison. This is typical of Botero using art for social commentary.