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Robert Bechtle Art

American, b. 1932

Robert Bechtle is considered one of the founding Photorealists, a set of artists who used photographs as a point of departure for their hyperrealist art.

Bechtle first introduced photographs into his painting technique in 1964 as a studio aid, while painting a scene with his wife Nancy Dalton, whom he often depicted in his work. By 1966, his use of photographs had evolved into an integral component of his process.

Bechtle typically begins by selecting an image, usually his photographs or anonymous snapshots, which he then projects onto the canvas from a slide. Bechtle held a particular fascination with the snapshot, typically amateur photographs of cars, for the nature of the subject matter, its immediacy, and lack of affect. He was attracted to the subversive implications of the photo-based technique for complicating the rigid genre hierarchies he had internalized in art school. Bechtle’s interest in the everyday and the ordinary also reveals the influence of Pop art, which he saw firsthand while traveling in Britain in 1961.

Bechtle’s early Photorealist works are infused with a subtle realism, and an implicit sense of humor pervades his subjects and compositions. His best-known paintings and prints focus on familiar suburban American middle-class subjects and themes, such as the car and the house. Unlike the gestures and lyricism of Diebenkorn and other artists associated with Bay Area Figuration, Bechtle was interested in attaining a more objective approach to realism.

In 1982, Bechtle married the art historian Whitney Chadwick. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (1977, 1982, 1989); John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1985); American Academy of Arts and Letters (1995); Francis J. Greenburger Foundation (2002); and the Modern Art Council at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA, 2003).

Early notable exhibitions that helped establish Bechtle’s career include group shows at San Francisco Art Institute (1966); Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, New York (1968); and the Milwaukee Art Center (1969). He received his first solo museum exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art (now SFMOMA, 1967). Bechtle’s work was also shown in several exhibitions and venues critical to the history of Photorealism, such as Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1970, 1973); Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (1971); Documenta, Kassel, West Germany (1972); Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York (1973); Samsung Museum of Modern Art, Seoul (2001); and Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin (2009). In 1991, SFMOMA held a solo exhibition of his work and later mounted a major retrospective in 2005, which traveled to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas (2005), and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (2006). He lives in San Francisco.

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Artist: Robert Bechtle
Mississippi Street Intersection
By Robert Bechtle
Located in Palo Alto, CA
Created in 2007, this color soft ground etching with aquatint on paper is hand-signed and dated by Robert Bechtle (San Francisco, 1932 - Berkeley, 2020) in pencil in the lower right ...
Category

Early 2000s Photorealist Robert Bechtle Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Albany Monte Carlo
By Robert Bechtle
Located in Palo Alto, CA
Created in 1990, this color hard ground and soft ground etching is hand-signed by Robert Bechtle (San Francisco, 1932 - Berkeley, 2020) in pencil in the lower left margin and is numb...
Category

1990s Modern Robert Bechtle Art

Materials

Woodcut

'68 Oldsmobile Iconic mid century modern photorealist lithograph photo realist
By Robert Bechtle
Located in New York, NY
Robert Bechtle '68 Oldsmobile, 1969 Color lithograph on wove paper. Unframed, with original label from the 1971 San Francisco Art Institute Centennial Exhibition 13 × 16 3/4 inches P...
Category

1960s Photorealist Robert Bechtle Art

Materials

Lithograph, Pencil

'63 Bel Air, from Four Chevies
By Robert Bechtle
Located in San Francisco, CA
Edition of 60 Robert Bechtle was born in 1932 in San Francisco and raised in Alameda. He studied graphic design and painting at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, earning his BFA in 1954 and MFA in 1958. He began painting seriously in the early 1960s, finding his own voice through a tightly controlled realism that was distinct from the expressionistic paint-handling characteristic of Bay Area Figurative art...
Category

1970s Robert Bechtle Art

Materials

Lithograph

'61 Impala, from Four Chevies
By Robert Bechtle
Located in San Francisco, CA
Robert Bechtle was born in 1932 in San Francisco and raised in Alameda. He studied graphic design and painting at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, earning his BF...
Category

1970s Contemporary Robert Bechtle Art

Materials

Lithograph

'71 Caprice, from Four Chevies
By Robert Bechtle
Located in San Francisco, CA
Edition of 60 Lithograph in colors Plate: 8 1/2 x 11 inches Sheet: 13 x 17 inches Robert Bechtle was born in 1932 in San Francisco and raised in Alameda. He studied graphic des...
Category

1970s Robert Bechtle Art

Materials

Lithograph

'64 Impala, from Four Chevies
By Robert Bechtle
Located in San Francisco, CA
Robert Bechtle was born in 1932 in San Francisco and raised in Alameda. He studied graphic design and painting at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, earning his ...
Category

1970s Contemporary Robert Bechtle Art

Materials

Lithograph

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Robert Bechtle art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Robert Bechtle art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Robert Bechtle in lithograph, aquatint, etching and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the Photorealist style. Not every interior allows for large Robert Bechtle art, so small editions measuring 17 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Tom Blackwell, Vija Celmins, and Ron Kleeman. Robert Bechtle art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $3,000 and tops out at $10,000, while the average work can sell for $3,000.

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