Angel Botello  (Puerto Rican, 1913-1986) 

Angel Botello (Puerto Rican/Spanish, 1913–1986) was a painter, sculptor, and graphic artist who was hailed as “The Caribbean Gauguin” during his lifetime. A master of many media, Botello was influenced by powerful figures, including Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973), Amedeo Modigliani (Italian, 1884–1920), and Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903). Botello was born in Galicia, Spain, and later moved to France where he attended the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1935, Botello returned to Spain where he was accepted to the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid.

Following the Spanish Civil War, Botello left Europe and moved to the Dominican Republic, and spent the next few years traveling throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. While living in Haiti, Botello became a well-known landscape painter, as well as an expert woodworker.

In 1953, Botello moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he opened an art gallery in the Caribe Hilton Hotel, and later in Old San Juan. During his 33 years in Puerto Rico, Botello’s work showed strong figurative and surrealistic influences, developing a distinctive style that became known as the "Botellian Style."

Angel Botello died in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1986, leaving behind an impressive legacy of oil paintings, lithographs, linocuts, serigraphs, and bronze sculptures.