BOGOTA, COLOMBIA - OCTOBER 22, 2015: Interior of the Botero Museum. The art collection donated by Colombian master artist Botero is considered the most important donation in the Country's history. ; Shutterstock ID 337708817; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; GL account no.: 56530; Netsuite department name: Online Design; Full Product or Project name including edition: Digital Content/Sights

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Museo Botero

Top choice in Bogotá


Even if you've never heard of Fernando Botero, you'll probably recognize some of his highly distinctive paintings of oversized (read: chubby) characters, including dodgy dictators, fleet-footed dancers, dogs and birds. Colombia’s most famous living artist is also a prolific sculptor and his curvaceous bronze statues display equally generous girth.

The museum, which belongs to the Banco de la República de Colombia, was founded in 2000 when Botero donated more than 100 of his own works, along with 85 from his personal collection of other artists' work – a haul that includes pieces by Picasso, Monet, Matisse and Klimt. The painter curated the museum himself.

Botero paintings to look out for include a parody of Di Vinci’s Mona Lisa (1978), the wonderfully intimate Pareja Bailando (1987) and the haunting studies of Colombia’s drug-cartel violence in the 1980s and '90s.

Audio guides (COP$10,000) in English, French and Spanish are available from the museum complex's main entrance on Calle 11. Other than that, there’s no cost.


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