The poet Gonzalo Arango Arias interviewed Fernando Botero (b. 1932) in 1955 on the latter’s return to Colombia after a two-year stay in Europe, as he prepared to exhibit the works he had produced while he was away. Arango Arias expressed no doubt that Botero’s show would be a success.
But the exhibition was in fact a colossal failure in terms of both sales and critical response. Those who had once applauded Botero’s budding talent were now disappointed in the change of direction they saw in his work, which had been influenced by Cubism. Shortly thereafter, Botero went to Mexico, hoping to expose the Italian Renaissance he had absorbed in Europe to his American roots and muralism. Instead, he discovered the rich colors of Mexican handicrafts and the work of Rufino Tamayo (1899–1991), important elements that he worked into his hybrid approach that drew from many different influences?including Diego Rivera?as his painting style developed.
Arango Arias was the founder of the movement known as “Nadaísmo” [Nothing-ism], whose first manifesto was published in 1958 in the Colombian city of Medellín. Nadaísmo’s goal was to break with Colombian literary tradition, and its members took an irreverent, countercultural approach to religion, the Academy, and power.