Robert Bechtle
Encyclopedia
Robert Bechtle is an American
painter
, born in San Francisco, California
, on May 14, 1932. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts
(1954) and Master of Fine Arts
(1958) from the California College of Arts and Crafts, now the California College of the Arts, in Oakland, California
.
Except for his military service in Germany, Bechtle has lived all his life in the Bay Area
; and his art is centered on scenes from everyday life.
He started drawing at a young age and, with encouragement from his teachers and his family, pursued a future as an artist. By submitting a portfolio of artwork to a national competition, Bechtle won a scholarship that paid for his first year of college. When he graduated, he was draft
ed and sent to Berlin
, where he painted murals in the Mess
Hall and delighted in visiting European museums. Besides making paintings, watercolors, and drawings—he is an accomplished printmaker. Bechtle began in lithography
but, after 1982 when Crown Point Press began publishing his prints, worked mainly in etching.
He taught at San Francisco State University
(1978–99) and lives in San Francisco's Potrero Hill neighborhood.
, Chuck Close
, and Ralph Goings
, Bechtle is considered to be one of the earliest Photorealists
. By the mid-1960s, he had started developing a style and subject matter that he has maintained over his career. Working from his own photographs, Bechtle creates paintings described as photographic. Taking inspiration from his local San Francisco surroundings, he painted friends and family and the neighborhoods and street scenes, paying special attention to automobiles. Bechtle's brushwork is barely detectable in his photo-like renditions. His paintings reveal his perspective on how things look to him, the color, and the light of a commonplace scene. Peter Schjeldahl
wrote in The New Yorker
that in 1969, when he first noticed a Bechtle painting, he was “rattled by the middle-class ordinariness of the scene.” As he looked more closely, he discovered “a feat of resourceful painterly artifice” that he gradually realized was “beautiful.” The article concludes: “Life is incredibly complicated, and the proof is that when you confront any simple, stopped part of it you are stupefied.”
, Metropolitan Museum of Art
, Whitney Museum of American Art
, and Guggenheim
; Minneapolis's Walker Art Center
; the Smithsonian Institution
; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
.
and Gallery Paule Anglim in San Francisco, CA
"Robert Bechtle: A Retrospective" exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (February 12 - June 5, 2005) the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (June 26 - August 28, 2005) and at the Corcoran Gallery of Art
In May to October 2000, the Oakland Museum led a retrospective of Bechtle's paintings, "California Classic: Realist Paintings by Robert Bechtle".
Robert Bechtle has made prints with Crown Point Press in San Francisco, CA since 1982. Video interview with the artist.
Robert Bechtle - Louis K. Meisel Gallery, NY
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, born in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, on May 14, 1932. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
(1954) and Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
(1958) from the California College of Arts and Crafts, now the California College of the Arts, in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
.
Except for his military service in Germany, Bechtle has lived all his life in the Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
; and his art is centered on scenes from everyday life.
He started drawing at a young age and, with encouragement from his teachers and his family, pursued a future as an artist. By submitting a portfolio of artwork to a national competition, Bechtle won a scholarship that paid for his first year of college. When he graduated, he was draft
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
ed and sent to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, where he painted murals in the Mess
Mess
A mess is the place where military personnel socialise, eat, and live. In some societies this military usage has extended to other disciplined services eateries such as civilian fire fighting and police forces. The root of mess is the Old French mes, "portion of food" A mess (also called a...
Hall and delighted in visiting European museums. Besides making paintings, watercolors, and drawings—he is an accomplished printmaker. Bechtle began in lithography
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...
but, after 1982 when Crown Point Press began publishing his prints, worked mainly in etching.
He taught at San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
(1978–99) and lives in San Francisco's Potrero Hill neighborhood.
Work
Along with Richard EstesRichard Estes
Richard Estes is an American artist, best known for his photorealist paintings. The paintings generally consist of reflective, clean, and inanimate city and geometric landscapes. He is regarded as one of the founders of the international photo-realist movement of the late 1960s, with such painters...
, Chuck Close
Chuck Close
Charles Thomas "Chuck" Close is an American painter and photographer who achieved fame as a photorealist, through his massive-scale portraits...
, and Ralph Goings
Ralph Goings
Ralph Goings is an American painter closely associated with the Photorealism movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s...
, Bechtle is considered to be one of the earliest Photorealists
Photorealism
Photorealism is the genre of painting based on using the camera and photographs to gather information and then from this information creating a painting that appears photographic...
. By the mid-1960s, he had started developing a style and subject matter that he has maintained over his career. Working from his own photographs, Bechtle creates paintings described as photographic. Taking inspiration from his local San Francisco surroundings, he painted friends and family and the neighborhoods and street scenes, paying special attention to automobiles. Bechtle's brushwork is barely detectable in his photo-like renditions. His paintings reveal his perspective on how things look to him, the color, and the light of a commonplace scene. Peter Schjeldahl
Peter Schjeldahl
Peter Schjeldahl, , is an American art critic, poet, and educator.Schjeldahl was born in Fargo, North Dakota. He grew up in small towns throughout Minnesota, and attended Carleton College and The New School...
wrote in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
that in 1969, when he first noticed a Bechtle painting, he was “rattled by the middle-class ordinariness of the scene.” As he looked more closely, he discovered “a feat of resourceful painterly artifice” that he gradually realized was “beautiful.” The article concludes: “Life is incredibly complicated, and the proof is that when you confront any simple, stopped part of it you are stupefied.”
Career
Robert Bechtle's work has been exhibited internationally and is in the collections of New York City's Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, and Guggenheim
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
; Minneapolis's Walker Art Center
Walker Art Center
The Walker Art Center is a contemporary art center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is considered one of the nation's "big five" museums for modern art along with the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshhorn...
; the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art...
.
External links
Robert Bechtle is represented by Barbara Gladstone Gallery in New York, NYand Gallery Paule Anglim in San Francisco, CA
"Robert Bechtle: A Retrospective" exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (February 12 - June 5, 2005) the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (June 26 - August 28, 2005) and at the Corcoran Gallery of Art
In May to October 2000, the Oakland Museum led a retrospective of Bechtle's paintings, "California Classic: Realist Paintings by Robert Bechtle".
Robert Bechtle has made prints with Crown Point Press in San Francisco, CA since 1982. Video interview with the artist.
Robert Bechtle - Louis K. Meisel Gallery, NY
Sources
- "Southwest Art", 5/2000, 'A California Realist' by Marina Freeman
- 6/1/2006 SFMOMA Press Release
- Photorealism by Louis K. Meisel. Harry N. Abrams, New York, NY, (1980).
- "The New Yorker", 5/2005, 'Parked Cars' by Peter Schjeldahl
External links
- Oral history interview with Robert Alan Bechtle, 1978 Sept. 13-1980 Feb. 1 from the Smithsonian Archives of American ArtArchives of American ArtThe Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 16 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washington, D.C...
- Oral history interview with Robert Bechtle, 2010 Feb. 8-9, a second interview transcribed from the Archives of American Art