Literature

During the independence period and up to WWII, Colombia produced few internationally acclaimed writers other than Jose Asuncion Silva (1856-96), perhaps the country's best poet, considered the precursor of Modernism in Latin America.

A postwar literary boom thrust many great Latin American authors into the international sphere, including the Colombian Gabriel Garcia Marquez (born 1928). His novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, published in 1967, immediately became a world wide best seller. It mixed dreams, myths and reality, and amazed readers with a new form of expression.

Visual Arts

Among the most distinguished modern painters and sculptors are Pedro Nel Gomez, known for his murals, watercolors, oils and sculptures; luis Alberto Acuna, a painter and sculptor who used motifs from pre- Columbian art; Alejandro Obregon, a painter tending to abstract forms; Edgar Negret, an abstract sculptor; Rodrigo Arenas Betancur, Colombia's most famous monument creator; and Fernando Botero, the most internationally renowned Colombian artist, whose somewhat ironic style of painting and sculpture is easily recognizable by the characteristic fatness of the figures.

Music

Colombia's most famous musical export is Shakira, whose album Laundry Service stormed pop charts in the United States and elsewhere in 2002, making her a global, not just Latin, Super Star. Other Colombian artist known beyond the country's border include Carlos Vives ( a Latin Pop vocalist), Juanes ( Latin rock vocalist) and Los Aterciopelados ( Colombia's most popular rock group).