[4] His signature style, also known as "Boterismo", depicts people and figures in large, exaggerated volume, which can represent political criticism or humor, depending on the piece.

He was considered the most recognized and quoted artist from Latin America in his lifetime,[5][6][7] and his art can be found in highly visible places around the world, such as Park Avenue in New York City and the Champs-Élysées in Paris, at different times.

[10][11] His art is collected by many major international museums, corporations, and private collectors, sometimes selling for millions of dollars.

[3] Although isolated from art as presented in museums and other cultural institutes, Botero was influenced by the Baroque style of the colonial churches and the city life of Medellín while growing up.

[20][21] He spoke with the Los Angeles Times, during an interview in November 2000, and explained that he lost the money he got for the painting and thus, his brothers never believed him.

[21] In 1948, Botero at the age of 16 had his first illustrations published in the Sunday supplement of El Colombiano, one of the most important newspapers in Medellín.

Young Botero also worked as a newspaper illustrator to support his artistic interests and before attending San Fernando Academy.

[27] In Madrid, Botero studied at the Academia de San Fernando and was a frequent visitor to the Prado Museum, where he copied works by Goya and Velázquez.

[32] Due to financial constraints preventing him from working with bronze, he made his sculptures with acrylic resin and sawdust.

[34] A horrified Botero decided that the damaged sculpture should be left in place as a "monument to the country's imbecility and criminality" and donated an intact replica to stand alongside it.

[39] In 2009, the Berkeley Art Museum acquired (as a gift from the artist) 56 paintings and drawings from the Abu Ghraib series, which can be seen online.

[41] In 2006, after having focused exclusively on the Abu Ghraib series for over 14 months, Botero returned to the themes of his early life such as the family and motherhood.

[30] Botero explained his use of these "large people", as they are often called by critics, in the following way: An artist is attracted to certain kinds of form without knowing why.

]Botero’s work, Still Life with Mandolin, marked the beginning of his stylistic development in painting enlarged figures.

His reputation improved after the New York Museum of Modern Art obtained his painting, Mona Lisa, Age Twelve, in 1961.

[46] Though he spent only one month a year in Colombia, he considered himself the "most Colombian artist living", due to his isolation from the international trends of the art world.

With his first wife, Gloria Zea [es] (1935–2019), later director of the Colombian Institute of Culture (Colcultura), he had three children: Fernando, Lina, and Juan Carlos.

[54] Botero's second wife was the Greek artist Sophia Vari with whom he resided in Paris and Monte Carlo until her death on 5 May 2023[55] The couple also had a house in Pietrasanta, Italy.

[59][60][61][62] Mario Vargas Llosa's 2023 novel Le dedico mi silencio uses Botero's 1979 painting Los músicos as its cover illustration.