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
$450
H 13.75 in W 10.25 in
Congregational Church, Old Lyme, CT. (quintessential New England landmark)
By Walter DuBois Richards
Located in New Orleans, LA
The Old Lyme Congregational Church located on Ferry Road, a quintessentially New England landmark, was captured by Walter DuBois Richards. The church was a favorite subject of Old Ly...
Lithograph
The River at Belfast, Maine
By Yvonne Jacquette
Located in Lyons, CO
Color lithograph, Edition 30. Jacquette creates compelling images of the landscape and the sea from the air or atop hills or mountains.
Lithograph
$880
H 40 in W 83 in
Waves of Clouds, Deep Blue Cyanotype Print, Pleasant Cloudy Sky, Large Triptych
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 triptychs are large pieces that feature lush blues, making them an impressive addition to any beautifully designed space. Each triptych is printed by hand and carefully crafted to capture the unique essence of these natural environments, with a focus on the interplay of light and shadows, and the subtle nuances of tone and texture. The beach and ocean scenes depict the dynamic beauty of waves crashing against the shore, with the cyanotype process lending a dreamy, ethereal quality to the images. Similarly, the forest and wood scenes...
Lithograph, Rag Paper
Orignal Poster by Victor Spahn Golfer c1985
By Victor Spahn
Located in Boca Raton, FL
Victor Spahn (1949- ) is a French photographer of Russian heritage. Born on March 20, 1949 in Paris, France, he studied under the Lyrical Abstractionist André Lanskoy. After his stud...
Lithograph
Original Lithograph I
By Joan Miró
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. Printed in 1972 at the Mourlot atelier and published for the "Miro Lithograph I" catalogue raisonne. Size: 12 1/2 x 9 5/8 inches (320 x 245 mm). Not sign...
Lithograph
$1,200
H 30 in W 20 in D 0.05 in
Original "Clear the Way!! Buy Bonds Fourth Liberty Loan, vintage poster, 1917
By Howard Chandler Christy
Located in Spokane, WA
Original "Clear the Way !!" Buy Bonds Fourth Liberty Loan vintage poster.. With Lady Liberty holding the U. S. Flag above the soldiers prepari...
Lithograph
$1,800
H 34 in W 27.5 in
Mid Century Modern Clown print, hand signed 144/250 Russian born American artist
By Nahum Tschacbasov
Located in New York, NY
Nahum Tschacbasov Mid Century Modern Clown, 1956 Lithograph Signed, dated and numbered 144/250 in graphite on the front 34 x 27.5 inches Unframed, affixed to matting Published by American Color Slide Co, Ltd., New York Terrific uncommon vintage signed, numbered and dated mid Century modern lithograph from this interesting and distinctive -and undervalued Russian American artist. Highly collectible clown...
Lithograph
$1,340
H 22 in W 18 in D 1 in
"Nane - Qagyuhl" Native American in Grizzly Costume - Photogravure Print
By Edward Curtis
Located in Soquel, CA
"Nane - Qagyuhl" Native American in Grizzly Costume - Photogravure Print Photogravure of a Native American man from a photo by Edward Sheriff Curtis (American, 1868-1952). The man i...
Paper, Ink
Sunrise
By Kaiko Moti
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Sunrise" 1978, is an original color aquatint on rice paper by noted Indian artist Kaiko Moti, 1921-1989. It is hand signed and numbered LXXIV/LXXV in red pencil...
Aquatint
original lithograph
By Pierre Alechinsky
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. Printed in Paris in 1967 by Clot, Bramsen et Georges and issued in an edition of 2500 for "Les Temps Situationistes" (The Situationist Times -- a radical...
Lithograph
$2,610
H 17 in W 21.25 in
"Graine d'Horizontales, " Original Black & White Lithograph by Jules Cheret
By Jules Chéret
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Graine d'Horizontales" is an original black and white lithograph by Jules Cheret. It depicts a woman with an animal on her left next to a page of everyday people. 8" x 11 1/2" ima...
Lithograph
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