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Taking inspiration from his local San
Francisco Bay Area 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
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in 2005, when he first noticed a
Bechtle painting in 1969, 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
359:. By the mid-1960s, he had started developing a style and subject matter that he maintained over his career. Working from his own photographs, Bechtle created paintings described as photographic.
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In 2005, a major retrospective exhibit and the first full–scale survey of the artist's work, "Robert
Bechtle: A Retrospective", was organized and exhibited by SFMOMA, and travelled to the
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His painting "'61 Pontiac", (made in 1968–1969) feature an image of himself, his first wife Nancy
Elizabeth (née Dalton) and their two young children in front of a car.
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By submitting a portfolio of artwork to a national "Scholastic
Magazine" competition, Bechtle won a scholarship that paid for his first year of college. He received his
219:, to parents Otto Bechtle and Thelma (née Peterson) Bechtle. His mother was a school teacher and his father was an electrician. In early childhood, his family moved to
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In 2000, Oakland Museum of
California held a retrospective exhibit of Bechtle's paintings, "California Classic: Realist Paintings by Robert Bechtle".
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Robert
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Besides making paintings, watercolors, and drawings, he was an accomplished printmaker. Bechtle began in
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complicated, and the proof is that when you confront any simple, stopped part of it you are stupefied."
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and whose art was centered on scenes from everyday local life. His paintings are in a
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550:"Oral history interview with Robert Alan Bechtle, 1978 September 13-1980 February 1"
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816:"Robert Bechtle, Photorealist Painter of the Everyday Middle Class, Dies at 88"
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digital transcript, Smithsonian
Archives of American Art Oral History Program
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Oral history interview with Robert
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1034:"Major Retrospective Of San Francisco Artist Robert Bechtle At SFMOMA"
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things look to him, the color, and the light of a commonplace scene.
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602:"This Bay Area town is the subject of dozens of famous paintings"
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195:, printmaker, and educator. He lived nearly all his life in the
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242:(1958) from the California College of Arts and Crafts (now the
488:"Robert Bechtle, Photorealist Painter of Suburbia, Dies at 88"
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Oral history interview with Robert
Bechtle, (8-9 Feb. 2010)
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983:"California Classic: Realist Paintings by Robert Bechtle"
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began publishing his prints, worked mainly in etching.
1014:. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. October 20, 2004
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American painter, printmaker, and educator (1932–2020)
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Robert Bechtle at Crown Point Press, 2011 (5 minutes)
300:, from 1967 to 1968. Starting in 1968, he taught at
191:(May 14, 1932 – September 24, 2020) was an American
355:, Bechtle was considered to be one of the earliest
1107:; Abradale/Harry N. Abrams, New York, NY, (1980);
554:Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
269:Hall and delighted in visiting European museums.
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838:"Artist Robert Bechtle Makes the Hill his Home"
1057:SFmoma.org: "Robert Bechtle: A Retrospective"
211:Robert Alan Bechtle was born May 14, 1932, in
1061:San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)
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526:"Robert Bechtle's artwork speaks for him"
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203:style and often depict automobiles.
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814:Meline, Gabe (September 25, 2020).
395:(OMCA) in Northern California; the
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1216:Deaths from dementia in California
1211:20th-century American male artists
1201:21st-century American male artists
1166:Military personnel from California
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389:San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
331:, New York; © 1969 Robert Bechtle
294:University of California, Berkeley
106:University of California, Berkeley
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1151:Artists from Berkeley, California
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1008:"Robert Bechtle: A Retrospective"
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298:University of California, Davis
111:University of California, Davis
1206:Deaths from Lewy body dementia
1196:21st-century American painters
1186:20th-century American painters
989:. Oakland Museum of California
935:"Robert Bechtle | '61 Pontiac"
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329:Whitney Museum of American Art
302:San Francisco State University
244:California College of the Arts
116:San Francisco State University
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524:Baker, Kenneth (2013-04-14).
486:Kurutz, Steven (2020-09-30).
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304:and lived in San Francisco's
600:Murdock, Andy (2021-08-15).
393:Oakland Museum of California
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141:"Alameda Gran Torino" (1974)
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1176:Potrero Hill, San Francisco
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166:Nancy Elizabeth Dalton,
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419:Retrospective exhibits
407:in New York City; the
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197:San Francisco Bay Area
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236:Bachelor of Fine Arts
1146:Photorealist artists
1085:Oral History Program
1081:digital transcript,
452:Berkeley, California
434:in Washington, D.C.
415:in Washington, D.C.
397:Museum of Modern Art
66:Berkeley, California
792:. Berggruen Gallery
248:Oakland, California
240:Master of Fine Arts
229:Alameda High School
189:Robert Alan Bechtle
1059:, 2005 exhibit at
492:The New York Times
444:Lewy body dementia
391:(SFMOMA), and the
335:Alongside artists
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259:United States Army
58:September 24, 2020
887:"Bechtle, Robert"
863:"Bechtle, Robert"
766:"Bechtle, Robert"
752:Crown Point Press
657:"Bechtle, Robert"
574:"Bechtle, Robert"
409:Walker Art Center
405:Guggenheim Museum
278:Crown Point Press
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154:Hyperrealism
150:Photorealism
137:Notable work
60:(2020-09-24)
39:May 14, 1932
1141:2020 deaths
1136:1932 births
796:29 November
430:and at the
345:Chuck Close
337:John Baeder
274:lithography
238:(1954) and
130:printmaking
102:Employer(s)
74:Nationality
1130:Categories
1113:0810980924
1043:2021-08-16
1018:2021-08-16
993:2021-08-16
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611:2021-08-16
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559:2021-08-16
535:2021-08-16
505:2021-08-16
458:References
325:61 Pontiac
217:California
47:California
35:1932-05-14
987:tfaoi.com
500:0362-4331
446:while in
372:wrote in
257:into the
207:Biography
288:Teaching
179:Children
146:Movement
126:painting
78:American
754:. 2011.
448:hospice
255:drafted
225:Alameda
221:Oakland
193:painter
160:Spouses
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1111:
1038:SFMOMA
891:SFMOMA
867:SFMOMA
818:. KQED
770:SFMOMA
661:SFMOMA
606:SFGATE
578:SFMOMA
530:SFGATE
498:
263:Berlin
246:), in
68:, U.S.
49:, U.S.
1103:, by
438:Death
323:'
1117:ISBN
1109:ISBN
824:2020
798:2018
643:2020
496:ISSN
312:Work
280:and
267:Mess
55:Died
29:Born
450:in
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