Robert Alan Bechtle Biography

San Francisco, 1932 -

American contemporary artist, Robert Bechtle is one of the most acclaimed PHOTO-REALIST artists, in the world.

Trained at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, bechtle now lives and works in Berkeley, California. He is considered to be one of the most prominent artists 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.