Robert Bechtle, who lives and works in Berkeley, California, was part of the photo-realist movement on the West Coast along with other well-known 'new realists' such as Paul Wonner, and William Goings. The photo-realists depicted everyday scenes in perfect detail emulating a photograph. The process involves using a photographed image and projecting it onto a canvas, then tracing the lines and objects. Once the paint is applied, the result is a highly realistic interpretation of the actual scene. Unlike some photo-realists, Bechtle used paint as texture in his paintings, and one can barely detect brushwork in his photo-like renditions. He took inspiration from his local San Francisco surroundings, painting neighborhoods, friends, family, and street scenes, paying special attention to automobiles. His paintings reveal his perspective on how things look to him, the color and the light of a commonplace scene. Bechtle was born in San Francisco, California in 1932. He started
drawing at a young age and with encouragement from his teachers
and family, pursued a future as an artist. After high school,
Bechtle enrolled in the California College of Arts and Crafts
in Oakland, California where he studied Graphic Design for four
years. He received a Bachelor's degree in Art and a Master's
degree in Fine Art after his graduate work in painting. ROBERT BECHTLE Born: 1932, San Francisco, CA Resides: San Francisco, CA Education: 1958 California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA; M.F.A. 1984 California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA; B.A. University of California, Berkeley, CA SOLO EXHIBITIONS 1981 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY 1984 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY 1987 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 1979-80 "Late Twentieth Century Art from the Sidney and Frances Lewis Foundation," Institute of Contemporary Art of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; traveling to: Dayton Art Institute, OH; Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, Memphis, TN; Dupont Gallery, Washington, DC; Lee University, Lexington, VA 1980 "Realism/Photorealism," Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, OK 1980 "Directions in Realism," Danforth Museum, Framingham, MA 1981 "New York Gallery Showcase," Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, OK 1981 "Changes: Art in America 1881-1981," Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI 1981-82 "Real, Really Real, Superreal," San Antonio Museum, TX; traveling to: Indianapolis Museum of Art, IN; Tucson Museum of Art, AZ; Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA 1981 "Insights," The New Gallery, Cleveland, OH 1981 Lakeview Museum of Arts & Sciences," Peoria, IL 1981-83 "Contemporary American Realism Since 1960," Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA; travelling to: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA; Oakland Museum, CA; Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal; Salas de Exposiciones de Belles Artes (Recoletos), Madrid, Spain; Kunsthalle, Nuremburg, Germany 1981 Proctor Art Center, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 1982 Myers Fine Arts Gallery, State University College, Plattsburgh, NY 1982 Castle Gallery, College of New Rochelle, NY 1982 "Drawings by California Painters," Long Beach Art Museum, CA; Oakland Museum, CA 1983-85 "Assignment: Aviation-The Stuart M. Speiser Photo-Realist Collection," Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition: Anchorage Historical & Fine Arts Museum, AK, 1/1-1/31/83; Denver Museum of Natural History, CO, 7/23-9/4; Maryland Science Center, Baltimore, MD, 9/24-11/6; Columbus Museum of Arts & Sciences, GA, 11/26/83-1/8/84; Neville Public Museum, Greenbay, WI, 1/28-3/11; The Dane G. Hanson Memorial Museum, Logan, KS, 3/31-5/13; Longview Museum & Art Center, TX, 6/2-7/15; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, CO 8/4-9/16; Springfield Art Museum, MO, 10/6-11/18; Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville, TN, 12/8/84-3/24/85; Historical & Creative Arts Center, Lufkin, TX, 4/13-5/26; Amarillo Art Center, TX, 6/15-7/28; Santa Fe Community College Art Gallery, Gainesville, FL, 10/19-12/1 1983 "Bay Area Art of the Sixties," University of California, Davis, CA 1983 "American Interiors," California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA 1983 "Watercolor in America," Joseloff Gallery, Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, CT 1983 "Faces Since the Fifties - A Generation of American Portraiture," Center Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 1983 "American Super Realism from the Morton G. Neumann Family Collection," Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, IL 1983 "Realism Now," Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan 1983 "Drawings By Fifthy California Artists," Modernism, San Francisco, CA 1983-85 "West Coast Realism," Laguna Beach Museum of Art, CA; travelling exhibition 1984 "Autoscape: The Automobile in the American Landscape," Whitney Museum of American Art, Fairfield County, Stamford, CT 1985 "Focus on Realism: Selections from the Collection of Glenn C. Janss," Boise Gallery of Art, Boise, ID 1985 "Fortissimo! Thirty Years from the Richard Brown Baker Collection of Contemporary Art," Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI; travelling to: San Diego Museum of Art, CA; Portland Art Museum, OR 1985 "Photorealist Watercolors," Acme Art, San Francisco, CA 1985 "American Realism: The Precise Image," Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan; Daimaru Museum, Osaka, Japan 1985 "Contemporary American Painting from Kentucky Collections," Norton Center for the Arts, Centre College, Danville, KY 1985 "American Realism," William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, CA 1985-87 "American Realism: Twentieth Century Drawings and Watercolors from the Glenn C. Janss Collection," San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA; travelling exhibition 1985 "Views Across America," Gannett Company, New York, NY; organized by the Museum of Modern Art Advisory Service, New York, NY 1985 "Realism: Contemporary Americans," Hooks-Epstein Galleries, Houston, TX 1986 "Views Across America," Pfizer Inc., New York, NY; organized by the Art Advisory Service, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY 1987 "Realism: The New Generation," R.H. Love Modern, Chicago, IL 1988 "Tortue is O.K.," Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica, CA 1988 "Spanish Watercolors: Robert Bechtle and Richard McLean," Wiegand Gallery, Belmont, CA 1989 "A Decade of American Drawing, 1980-89," Daniel Weinburg Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1989 "Robert Bechtle, Chuck Close, Robert Cottingham, Malcolm Morley, Sigmar Polke," Pat Hearn Gallery, New York, NY 1990 "Amerikansk Fotoreslism," Art Now Gallery, Gothenburg, Sweden, October 20 - November 25 1997 “Photorealism”, Jaffe Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL, Jan. 9-31 1997 “Photorealists”, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA, October 2 - November 25 1999 “Photorealism/Periphery” Museum of Art Brigham Young University, Provo, UT May 6 – Oct. 23
Lindey, Christine. Superrealism. London: Orbis, 1980 Arthur, John. Realist Drawings and Watercolors: Contemporary Works on Paper. Boston: New York Graphic Arts Society/Little Brown and Co., 1980. Hopkins, Henry. Fifty West Coast Artists. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1981.
Broder, Patricia Janis. The American West: The Modern Vision. Boston: Little Brown & Co., 1984. Lucie-Smith, Edward. American Art Now. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1985. Arthur, John. American Realism: The Precise Image. Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan: The Asahi Shimbun, 1985. SELECTED CATALOGS Landis, Ellen. Reflections of Realism. Museum of Albuquerque, NM, 1980. Tabak, Lisa Dennison. Seven Photorealists from New York Collections. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, 1981. Brandt, Frederick R., and Susan L. Butler. Late Twentieth Century Art from the Sidney and Frances Lewis Foundation. The Sydney and Frances Lewis Foundation, Richmond, VA, 1981. Drawings by California Painters. Long Beach Art Museum, CA, 1982. Faces Since the Fifties - A Generation of American Portraiture. Center Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, 1983. Chase, Linda. Introduction to American Super Realism from the Morton G. Neumann Family Collection. Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, IL, 1983. Realism Now." Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan, 1983. Gamwell, Lynn. West Coast Realism. Laguna Beach Museum of Art, CA, 1983. Perkins, Pamela Gruninger. Autoscape: The Automobile in the American Landscape. Whitney Museum of American Art, Fairfield County, Stamford, CT, 1984. Robinson, W. Franklin. Forward to Fortissimo! Thirty Years from the Richard Brown Baker Collection of Contemporary Art. Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, 1985. Martin, Alvin. American Realism: Twentieth-Century Drawings and Watercolors from the Glenn C. Janss Collection. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art/ Harry N. Abrams, New York, NY, 1985. Van Baron, Judith & Betz, Margaret. Photorealists, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA, 1997. ARTICLES "The Lonely Look At American Realism, Life Magazine, 1980, pp. 74-82. Larson, Kay. "Art: Dead-End Realism," New York Magazine, 26 October 1981. Schjeldahl, Peter. "Opposites Attract," Village Voice, 16 April 1981. Vivien, Raynor. "Pooling of Resources Produces Stimulating Success," The New York Times, 7 February 1982. Beals, Kathie. "Whitney's 'Autoscape' is driving display," The Westchester/Rockland Newspapers, 6 April 1984. Boraks, David. "Autos, landscapes, and art," The Sunday Republican, (Waterbury, CT), 1 April 1984. Eliasoph, Philip. "America on Wheels, Whitney show explores our paved-over paradise," Southern Connecticut News, 8 April 1984. Eisman, Alberta. "Autoscape at the Whitney," Connecticut Magazine, May 1984, pp. 111-113. “The Photorealists,” Savannah College of Art and Design-The Magazine, Fall/Winter 1997, pp. 33-34. |
