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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Toothbrush Variant II
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...
Lithograph
Price Upon Request
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)...
Etching, Aquatint
Price Upon Request
'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...
Lithograph
Price Upon Request
'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...
Lithograph
Price Upon Request
'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...
Lithograph
Price Upon Request
'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 ...
Lithograph
$1,120Sale Price|20% Off
H 29.75 in W 23.75 in D 0.75 in
St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna - Hand Colored Cityscape Lithograph
By Luigi Kasimir
Located in Soquel, CA
Detailed and dramatic hand-colored etching by Luigi Kasimir (Austrian, 1881-1962). St. Stephen's cathedral towers above the streets of Vienna, with people going about their daily bus...
Paper, Watercolor, Lithograph
I Think of You
By Tracey Emin
Located in London, GB
Edition of 100 Lithographic print in 2 colours on Somerset 300 gsm paper 90 x 68 cm (35.4 x 26.7 in) Signed, numbered and dated by the artist.
Lithograph
“Straight Wharf Nantucket”
Located in Southampton, NY
Original off set lithograph in black and white with hand colored tinting by the artist. Artist signed, titled and numbered by the artist 47/250. Condition is excellent. Under glass...
Archival Paper, Lithograph
$1,348
H 21.86 in W 17.33 in D 1.19 in
L'inspiré Self Portrait Marc Chagall Valentina Vava Lithograph 1963 Mourlot 398
By Marc Chagall
Located in Eversholt, Bedfordshire
Inspiration or L'inspiré - The artist and his wife, self-portrait. This is a self-portrait of the great artist, depicting him as lost in thought before one of his paintings, which is apparently related to his home country Russia, as suggested by the small figure in the lower right of the work. Chagall’s wife Valentina (“Vava”), who was also from Russia, is looking over his shoulder, full of longing. The small surreal elements that are characteristic of Chagall’s paintings are also present here: the silhouettes of the houses that seems to stick out of the painting and a figure with a flute or trombone standing on its head. Chagall Lithographe, Volume II of the catalogue raisonné of Chagall's lithographic work, see Mourlot 398, 1957-1962, Paris 1963, imprinted by Imprimerie Mourlot for the publisher André Sauret. A lithographic plate from the catalog that was published in 10,000 copies. Condition : Excellent Set inside a cream mount bearing brass cartellino Visible sheet size length 23cm, Height 31.50cm In a carved and gilded frame Frame size Length 44cm, Height 55.5cm The reverse with a paper label in Japanese Provenance : Private Collection, purchased with Lovers in Grey
Lithograph
I Am The Last Of My Kind
By Tracey Emin
Located in London, GB
Published by the Royal Academy
Lithograph, Offset
$3,371
H 11.82 in W 7.88 in D 0.4 in
Starry Night - Limited Edition, Figurative, Contemporary, Star, Night, Child
By Charlie Mackesy
Located in Knowle Lane, Cranleigh
Starry Night is a lithograph based on a watercolour by Charlie Mackesy. The edition is limited to 150 and each piece has been signed by Charlie Mackesy...
Lithograph
$4,180
H 19.25 in W 22 in D 1.75 in
Lithograph of American rural life timeless with architecture monochrome
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in London, GB
A man raises his hand to his chin, his neck tilted and face turned to look at a dilapidated farmhouse, barely held together by planks of wood and exposed to the elements. Behind him ...
Lithograph
$2,082Sale Price|30% Off
H 26.75 in W 119.25 in
Clemente Untitled B: surreal mythical landscape, voyage with ocean, Venus, snake
By Francesco Clemente
Located in New York, NY
A black and white, large-scale surreal mythical landscape of an ocean voyage, with a snake wrapped around a clock, a ship, Venus sculpture, greek urns, and snakes, printed in black o...
Lithograph
$744Sale Price|20% Off
H 40 in W 83 in
Venice Seascape Triptych, Blue Lido Island Reflections, Contemporary Cyanotype
By Kind of Cyan
Located in Barcelona, ES
This series of cyanotype triptychs showcases the beauty of nature scenes, including stunning beaches and oceans, as well as the intricate textures of water, forests, and skies. These...
Lithograph, Monotype, Paper
$20,227
H 25.5 in W 20 in D 2 in
Hand of Africa - Mandela, Former South African President, Signed Artwork, Hand
By Nelson Mandela
Located in Knowle Lane, Cranleigh
Nelson Mandela, Hand of Africa, Signed Limited Edition Lithograph Many people are unaware that Nelson Mandela turned his hand to art in his 80's as a way of leaving a legacy for his ...
Lithograph
$4,180
H 21.5 in W 18.5 in D 1.5 in
Lithograph of American rural life timeless and romantic monochrome
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in London, GB
In this sentimental work from 1939, Benton expresses his admiration for the rural lifestyle of the Midwest. He highlights the connection between man and the land by depicting two fig...
Lithograph
$1,100
H 17.75 in W 16 in
The glass mountain shattered David Hockney Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm
By David Hockney
Located in New York, NY
This etching from David Hockney’s celebrated Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm portfolio depicts the somewhat obscure story Old Rinkrank, which Hockney chose to illustrate beca...
Etching, Aquatint
Sold
H 13 in W 16.75 in
'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 E...
Lithograph, Pencil
Sold
H 18.75 in W 20.5 in
Robert Bechtle 'House near Stinson Beach' Signed Limited Edition Print
By Robert Bechtle
Located in San Rafael, CA
Robert Bechtle (American, b. 1932) House Near Stinson Beach, 1998. Color soft-ground etching with spit-bite aquatint, 1998. Signed, dated and numbered ...
Aquatint
Sold
H 26 in W 26.25 in
Robert Bechtle 'Albany Monte Carlo' Signed Limited Edition Print
By Robert Bechtle
Located in San Rafael, CA
Robert Bechtle (American, b. 1932) Albany Monte Carlo, 1990 Color woodcut on silk mounted on rag paper, 1990. Signed and numbered in pencil. Edition 3...
Woodcut
House Near Stinson Beach
By Robert Bechtle
Located in New York, NY
Color soft ground etching with spit bite aquatint Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, recto Also titled in pencil, verso This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Robert...
Etching, Aquatint
63 Bel Air
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...
Lithograph