A Favorite Among Chinese Collectors: The Market and Work of Botero

On September 15, 2023, Colombian master Fernando Botero passed away, closing a decades-long artistic journey. Yet his departure did not signal an end to his market. On the contrary, it ignited renewed institutional collaborations and auction fervor, propelling Botero’s secondary market into the spotlight for global collectors.

The market response in the months following his death has been nothing short of transformative. According to Artnet, Botero’s total auction sales rose from approximately USD 9.7 million in 2020 to USD 21.2 million in 2023, and continued to climb past USD 25.1 million in 2024. A landmark moment came with The Musicians (1979), which achieved USD 5.1 million at Christie’s New York, setting a new record for the artist. Both his paintings and sculptures have witnessed accelerated price appreciation posthumously, reflecting a depth of market confidence rarely seen in such a sustained manner.

Institutional and gallery engagement has further amplified this momentum. At Art Basel 2025, Almine Rech unveiled its first collaboration with the Botero Foundation, presenting a curated selection of paintings and sculptures that repositioned the artist within the global conversation. Industry rumors suggest that one of the “big four” galleries is also in discussions with the estate, signaling not only curatorial validation but also heightened anticipation around posthumous supply and long-term valuation.

Among international collectors, Chinese audiences have demonstrated a particularly enduring affinity for Botero. Large-scale exhibitions in Beijing and Shanghai during the early 2000s laid the foundation for his visibility in the region, while his signature volumetric figures resonate strongly with Chinese aesthetic ideals of fullness, harmony, and balance. His playful yet humanistic vision—what he himself termed “voluptuousness”—has found a receptive audience that values both accessibility and symbolic depth. Today, Botero’s public sculptures can be found across Taipei, Hong Kong, and Beijing, testifying to his widespread cultural integration and the emotional investment of Chinese collectors.

Sculpture, especially his horse series, has enjoyed exceptional traction in Asia. In March 2025, Man on Horse (white marble) realized HKD 10.74 million with fees at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, establishing a new benchmark for works of its scale. Such results not only confirm collector appetite but also reinforce sculpture as a key driver of Botero’s regional market.

Botero’s posthumous market reveals a dual dynamic: auction benchmarks continue to be reset, while gallery collaborations expand his institutional profile. The former provides hard evidence of demand, while the latter repositions him within a contemporary context, framing his practice as both timeless and adaptable. This synergy attracts not just devoted admirers but also investment-oriented collectors who recognize the “posthumous exposure effect” as a catalyst for value appreciation.

The verdict from the international gallery system is clear: Botero’s art is not a relic of a past era but a perennial cultural asset, capable of being reframed for successive generations. This explains why high-net-worth collectors in Asia and the Middle East are re-engaging with his market—not out of speculative fervor, but because his blend of stability, classicism, and narrative power has become a rare commodity in the current cycle.

While Botero’s prices may not double overnight like those of emerging stars, his market is steadily tracing a second life curve worthy of a master—less volatile, but profoundly enduring. His trajectory reminds us that the art market is not solely driven by hype, but also by the enduring logic of time: works that transcend eras require no spectacle, only presence.