藝苑掇英 Robert Bechtle 羅伯特·比圖 (1932) Photorealism American

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Robert Bechtle was born on May 14, 1932, in San Francisco. In 1954 he received a BFA in graphic design from the California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC, now California College of the Arts) in Oakland. After graduation, Bechtle began working as a graphic designer but was drafted into the U.S. Army the same year and stationed in Berlin. On his return to San Francisco in 1956, Bechtle’s interests shifted from commercial arts to painting, which he began to study that year at CCAC. During this time he was introduced to the Bay Area Figurative movement, a group of artists who sought to counter the predominance of New York-based Abstract Expressionism. While Bechtle was abroad, the renowned painter Richard Diebenkorn had joined the faculty at CCAC. He was an important influence on Bechtle, although the latter refused to take a class with the artist to avoid becoming overwhelmed by his influence. Bechtle began teaching at CCAC in the fall of 1957 and received an MFA in painting in 1958.
Bechtle is considered one of the founding Photorealists, a set of artists who used photographs as a point of departure for their hyperrealist art. He 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 own 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 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). His 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.
Robert Bechtle於1932年5月14日出生於舊金山。 1954年，他獲得了位於奧克蘭的加州藝術與工藝學院（CCAC，現為加州藝術學院）的平面設計學士學位。畢業後，Bechtle開始擔任平面設計師，但同年被選入美國陸軍並駐紮在柏林。在1956年回到舊金山後，Bechtle的興趣從商業藝術轉向繪畫，那年他開始在CCAC學習。在此期間，他被介紹到灣區比喻運動，這是一群試圖反對紐約抽象表現主義優勢的藝術家。 Bechtle在國外時，著名畫家Richard Diebenkorn加入了CCAC的教師隊伍。他對Bechtle有重要影響，儘管後者拒絕與藝術家一起上課以避免被他的影響所淹沒。 Bechtle於1957年秋季開始在CCAC任教，並於1958年獲得繪畫碩士學位。
Bechtle被認為是創始人的照片寫實主義者之一，他是一群藝術家，他們將照片作為超現實主義藝術的出發點。 1964年，他首次將照片作為工作室輔助材料引入他的繪畫技巧，同時與他的妻子南希道爾頓（Nancy Dalton）一起畫畫，他經常在他的作品中描繪。到1966年，他對照片的使用已演變成他的過程中不可或缺的組成部分。 Bechtle通常首先選擇一個圖像，通常是他自己的照片或匿名快照，然後他從幻燈片投影到畫布上。 Bechtle對快照，特別是汽車的業餘照片，對主題的性質，即時性和缺乏影響持有特別的迷戀。他被基於照片的技術的顛覆性影響所吸引，這種技術使他在藝術學校內化的僵化的體裁等級變得複雜化。 Bechtle對日常和普通的興趣也揭示了他在1961年在英國旅行時親眼看到的波普藝術的影響.Bechtle早期的照片寫實主義作品注入了微妙的現實主義，隱含的幽默感瀰漫在他的主題和作品中。他最著名的畫作集中在熟悉的美國郊區中產階級主題和主題，如汽車和房子。與Diebenkorn和其他與Bay Area Figuration相關的藝術家的手勢和抒情性不同，Bechtle有興趣實現更客觀的現實主義方法。
1982年，Bechtle與藝術史學家Whitney Chadwick結婚。他是眾多獎項和榮譽的獲得者，包括國家藝術基金會（1977年，1982年，1989年）的獎學金;約翰西蒙古根海姆紀念基金會（1985年）;美國藝術與文學學院（1995年）; Francis J. Greenburger Foundation（2002）;以及舊金山現代藝術博物館的現代藝術委員會（SFMOMA，2003）。有助於建立Bechtle職業生涯的早期著名展覽包括舊金山藝術學院的團體展（1966年）; Vassar College Art Gallery，Poughkeepsie，New York（1968）;和密爾沃基藝術中心（1969年）。他在舊金山藝術博物館（現為SFMOMA，1967年）獲得了他的第一個個人博物館展覽。 Bechtle的作品也在幾個對照片寫實歷史至關重要的展覽和場所展出，如惠特尼美國藝術博物館，紐約（1970,1973）;芝加哥當代藝術博物館（1971年）; Documenta，Kassel，West Germany（1972）; Louis K. Meisel畫廊，紐約（1973年）;三星現代藝術博物館，首爾（2001年）;和德意志古根海姆，柏林（2009年）。 1991年，SFMOMA舉辦了他的作品個展，隨後於2005年進行了一次重大回顧展，前往德克薩斯州沃斯堡現代藝術博物館（2005年），以及華盛頓特區的Corcoran藝術館（2006年）。他住在舊金山。