130 Botero works at Gardens by the Bay during Singapore Art Week, world’s largest showcase
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Mr Fernando Botero Jr at his home in Mexico City.
ST PHOTO: CLEMENT YONG
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MEXICO CITY – The world’s largest exhibition of the works of the beloved artist of corpulent figures Fernando Botero has been created for Singapore. Over 130 original paintings and sculptures by the Colombian, some over 3m tall, can be seen at Gardens by the Bay during Singapore Art Week that begins on Jan 22.
Jointly presented by the Fernando Botero Foundation and IMBA, a new immersive arts theatre at Gardens by the Bay, Botero In Singapore is pitched as a first-of-its-kind landmark showcase for the late South American artist, who died in 2023. It marks the debut of the new space
The exact dates and duration of the exhibition are being confirmed. But visitors can expect 118 paintings, drawings and indoor sculptures that span Botero’s 70-year career.
These include intimate studies and watercolours that pre-date his distinctive Boterismo style – exaggerated proportions that nevertheless treated his round figures with grace and sensuality, and a touch of pop art without the cynical consumerism.
First Lady On A Horse.
PHOTO: THE BOTERO FOUNDATION
The outdoor gardens will become the verdant surroundings to another 10 of Botero’s iconic supersized sculptures, including one of his go-to motifs, Horse. They add to Botero’s existing landmarks, like his bronze Bird near UOB Plaza in Raffles Place and and Dressed Woman at Parkview Square, to transform Singapore into the Botero capital of the world.
The artist’s eldest son Fernando Botero Jr, 69, tells The Straits Times in Mexico City in December, where he lives, that this may already be an unofficial status that Singapore holds. His father moved to Mexico in 1956 to learn from artists like Diego Rivera and it was there that he eventually had his eureka moment for his Boterismo style at 24, while painting a guitar at 2am.
Mr Botero Jr says: “Singapore has the highest concentration of Botero per capita. There was already a very large base of Botero collectors that had started buying Botero in the 1990s. They continued to buy when he exhibited at the Singapore Art Museum in 2004 and when he had an exhibition of monumental sculptures in Orchard Road.
Mr Fernando Botero Jr speaks to journalists from his home in Mexico City.
PHOTO: CHOON LING LECK
“He is one of the most well-known artists in Singapore and that’s quite amazing. My father loved Singapore. He always said, ‘I’ve managed to create a language that is so universal that my work is admired on the other side of the world.’”
Mr Botero Jr, the former national defence minister of Colombia, suggests this unlikely love affair could have begun when Botero exhibited his giant sculptures in Ginza in Tokyo in the 1990s, which became the gateway to Botero’s art for some Singapore collectors.
Origins aside, it has become clear to him that Asia as a whole has become one of Botero’s most staunch supporters.
A Beijing exhibition of Botero in 2015 and early 2016 was visited by a record 1.5 million people. Mr Botero Jr had expected about 50,000 visitors for the entire run. “Then they called us and said they had 30,000 visitors in one day. Unbelievable,” he recalls.
The family came to the inescapable conclusion that the second half of 2025 and first half of 2026 had to be entirely devoted to the continent: an exhibition in Guangzhou just wrapped, with Seoul and Taiwan shows next.
“After that, we have invitations from Europe and the Middle East, so we’re trying to balance between the West and the East,” he says.
“Almost everything he painted is what he remembered from his childhood, because he left his home country when he was 18 and never went back. But it creates emotion for people from all over. Most art is national. There are maybe 10 or 15 artists – like Picasso, Warhol, Basquiat – who are truly universal.”
On Gardens by the Bay, he adds: “My father believed very strongly that art should go to the public instead of the public going to art.
“Gardens by the Bay was ranked the eighth-best attraction in the world, which is huge. Maybe you don’t realise in Singapore, but there’s not a single tourist who goes to Singapore who doesn’t go there. To have it easy for people to attend is in line with my father’s philosophy.”
For this Singapore iteration, Mr Botero Jr is also experimenting with an immersive format that is IMBA’s strength. He narrates a 45-minute audiovisual account and shares stories of the artist as a father and the struggle and humour behind his masterpieces.
Fernando Botero spent his early life mired in poverty, but became increasingly successful from his mid-30s and was world-famous by his 40s.
PHOTO: THE BOTERO FOUNDATION
His father spent his early life mired in poverty, but became increasingly successful from his mid-30s and was world-famous by his 40s. From 10am to 8pm daily, he worked alone in his studio and stayed uncontactable before emerging for lively conversation at dinner, a habit he shares with surrealist Salvador Dali.
“He was a monk until 8pm and then he came alive,” Mr Botero Jr says. “He had an encyclopaedic knowledge of art because that’s the only thing that interested him profoundly. He could tell you the name of Cezanne’s wife, how many times Picasso got married, the names of the children of the artists. It was fascinating to talk to him.”
To whet people’s appetites, five works by Botero have also been placed at Shangri-La Singapore until March 1, which can be paired with a Botero-Inspired Afternoon Tea at the hotel’s The Rose Veranda.
Botero In Singapore is supported by the Singapore Tourism Board, Panasonic Projector & Display, car dealer Eurokars and Shangri-La Singapore.
Seated Woman.
PHOTO: THE BOTERO FOUNDATION
IMBA will also host the upcoming South-east Asia premiere of English painter David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (Not Smaller And Further Away). This is an immersive experience with no original works – fitting, perhaps, with the artist’s latest penchant for iPad drawings.
