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Picture Perfect: Robert Bechtle's '61 Pontiac, 1968–69

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Picture Perfect: Robert Bechtle's '61 Pontiac, 1968–69 A5 nary paintings.” paintings.” nary extraordi are These reconsideration. for ripe is photorealism when moment a is “this that notes also who Bishop, Janet says now, museums more in presence” a having “is artist The 1968–69. Bechtle perfect: Picture sfmoma ’s ‘ ’s 61 Pontiac, 61 curator curator Robert Robert - © RobeRt bechtle, couRtesy Whitney MuseuM of AMeRicAn ARt, neW yoRk A5 In the late 1960s and ’70s, a group of paInters responded to the ubIquIty of pho- tographIc Images by capturIng modern lIfe In sharp focus and startlIng detaIl. but, as phIlIp gefter reveals, the photorealIsts weren’t just copyIng pIctures. keeping it real A5 I Goings’ssuburban streetscapes feature parked cars andpickup whichoftenhedepicts extremeinlarge close scale.a onandup Cottinghamfocuses onsignage from retail stores andtheaters, the glass-and-aluminum doors of his meticulouslyshimmerwiththat detailedreflections, in those like scenes urban complex visually for known is Estes surface. seamless a create to airbrush an of use the by heightened sometimes images, photographic to resemblance daunting technically their of because opti with life photorealisticprecision.termedbravurapaintingscalwereTheir daily from scenes render to strove Pearlstein Philip and RobertCottingham, RichardEstes,AudreyFlack, GoingsRalph extraordinarypaintings.”are these realizationthat the withcircling backare they becamesuspicious.Now world art the “that appeal popular broad such gained works accomplished nically tech the because says, Bishop fizzled, movement a as photorealism shesays. “Fellow curators arecertainly interested.”reconsideration,” for ripeideaThe of is photorealism when moment a is “This salesroom. the in only not and Bishop, suggestsreevaluated, being November $ bringingsale, the in lot top Chairs, presencea thoseinmuseums’ galleries.” alsoSheshow,notesworksthethethatinofone havingslowly is he “Nowsays. Bishoptime,”long a forseen been notcollections, theirhadworks in the Bechtleswithmuseums visitinginitially was I reputation.“Whenartist’s the on effectripple a had has tive impressed.”and moved collectors“Artists,adviser artCitigroup, generalanatthe York. Newandnowpublicand seemed in all In the early are who artists photorealist other also but Bechtle just not It’s at curator a Bishop, Janet 1976 show was loved virtually uniformly,” says Jonathan Binstock, formerly a curator at the museum the at curator a formerlyBinstock,Jonathan saysuniformly,” virtually loved was show Bechtlethetenure, my Corcoranduringthe exhibitionat other any than more“Probablyelicit. scenesremarkablearetheir well-craftedfor onlynot nostalgiasenseofthedetailfor theybut strikinglytrue-to-lifehis sun-bleached in Today bathedCalifornialight.snapshotlikeall poses, late early the and in reputation artist’s Area Bay this established that works photorealist the of dozen whichoriginated show, Francisco Santheat The MuseumModern inofDC.Art Washington, in Art, of Gallery Corcoran the at cross-countrytour its completed 2006 , was featured on the cover of Christie’s “First Open” catalogue from last February; it was the was it February; last cataloguefrom Open” “First Christie’s of cover the on featured was , , also at Christie’s.at also , In 1970 2006 1970 s, artists such as Bechtle, Chuck Close, a traveling retrospective of Robert Bechtle’s paintings, drawings and watercolors and drawingspaintings,Bechtle’s Robert ofretrospective traveling a s: suburban scenes of cars parked in front of stucco houses and people standing in standing people and houses stucco of front in parked cars of scenes suburban s: 396,000 sfmoma , close to the artist’s record of $ of recordartist’s the to close , who organized the Bechtle show there, observes that the retrospec the that observes there, show Bechtle the organized who Telephone Booths, 1967 - - . 408,000 , paid for ’ for paid , 2005 , included,least twoat 62 Chevy, 62 A R t+Auction Watsonville 1970 1960 january 2008 , in , s - 1981; Chrysler, Alameda right: bottom to . Chevy Torino, Chairs, Watsonville and 1976; studio, his in Nova Caliente Agua on working artist Olympia, right: top from clockwise page, c with infused are pantings snapshotlike artist’s Area Bay The Ro o Bech alifornia light. This This light. alifornia pposite, center left left center pposite, B Alameda Gran Gran Alameda | , 1970. , 1974; and 1974; WWW.AR e 1977; the the 1977; Watsonville Watsonville T rt le TINFO ’62 ’62 . CO M this pAge, clockWise fRoM top Right: © RobeRt bechtle, couRtesy San Francisco MuseuM of ModeRn ARt; blAiR PaltRidge, couRtesy San Francisco MuseuM of ModeRn ARt; GalleRy Paule AngliM, San Francisco. opposite, clockWise fRoM top left: PrivAte collection, euRope; sotheby’s neW yoRk; chRistie’s neW yoRk; © RobeRt bechtle; collection San Francisco MuseuM of ModeRn ARt; © RobeRt bechtle A5 RoBert cottinghAm The artist focuses on commercial signage and theater marquees, often depicted in extreme close up. Top left: Miller High Life, 1977. Above: Ode, 1971, which sold at Sotheby’s last fall for $241,000. tktktktktkktktktkktktktkk WWW.ARTINFO.COM | january 2008 ARt+Auction Richard opposite, bottom right: Robert Frank’s esteS his urban streetscapes are Trolley—New Orleans, based on several 1955. The 1960s snap- photographs of the shot aesthetic—which same scene, which he shares a documentary combines to create an impulse with photore- extrasensory level of alist painting—has its detail. clockwise roots in Frank’s spon- from top left: Car taneous photographs. Reflections, 1969; estes in his studio, in 1997; Revolving Doors, 1968; Telephone Booths, 1967; Ticket Window, 1969; For Adults Only, 1969; 560, from 1972; 6 and Manhattan, 1981. ARt+Auction january 2008 | WWW.ARTINFO.COM trucks and are presented as matter-of-factly as his meticulously painted arrangements of diner condi- ments—bottles of ketchup and hot sauce, jars of relish—on gleaming Formica tabletops. Pearlstein and Close concentrated on the human figure and portraiture, respectively, treating the flesh and features of their subjects in frank, unidealized ways. Flack is known mostly for still lifes in which the symbols of art making, such as paint tubes and brushes, are arranged alongside traditional vanitas objects like fruit, flow- ers, skulls and candles. In its lens-sharp clarity, viewfinderlike cropping and happened-upon moments, photorealism reflected the new pervasiveness of photography in contemporary life. By the 1960s, the latter medium had altered the way people saw—and framed—the world. More and more, commercial photographs appeared in color; the Polaroid, meanwhile, brought color home to the personal snapshot. Even serious photographers were taking life’s most ordinary, incidental moments, both domestic and public, as their subject matter. In the late ’60s, the term “snapshot aesthetic” came to denote the commonplace quality that characterized these images, but the roots of the style can be traced to the previous decade and the work of Robert Frank. Frank’s photographs in the book The Americans were initially dismissed because of their raw, informal look. At first glance they seemed amateur- ish, but they possessed the same spontaneity and modesty as the work of the Beat poets and writers with whom he associated. Frank’s documentary approach paved the way for photographers like Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander and Garry Winogrand, whose pictures reflected their personal experience of the world. The similarities between the work of the photorealists and that of the pho- tographers may not be deliberate, but in retrospect the two groups seem ineluctably connected. Ralph Goings’s McDonald’s Pickup, 1970, depicts a suburban street with a pickup standing in front of the fast-food restaurant and a palm tree nearby. These precisely rendered images make the painting photographic, as does its construction: the middle ground point of view, objects placed at an angle to the picture plane, the inclusion of peripheral details. The work brings to mind Friedlander’s Texas, 1965, which also features a pickup truck, despite the photographer’s overt concern 7 with the properties of his medium, evidenced by the presence of his shadow in the M o R ise f W istie’s R h c istie’s; sotheby’s. opposite, clock k; R R h o c y id; W e R n d A y, R , M A lle isz Ga M ne R o b . Meisel k hyssen- ouis l t With Its lens-sharp clarIty, vIewfInderlIke istie’s; R croppIng and happened-upon moments, h c photorealIsm reflected the new pervasIve- stes; e d ness of photography In modern lIfe. ar top left: sotheby’s; Museo M o R ise f W otheby’s london; Rich s ge, clock A this p top left: WWW.ARTINFO.COM | january 2008 ARt+Auction picture, reminding us that he was there to capture it, and the knot of juxtaposed elements that keeps our eye moving through the frame. It is worth noting that Stephen Shore and William Eggleston, pioneers of color photography in the early 1970s, borrowed, consciously or not, from the photorealists. Their photographic interpretation of the American vernacular—gas stations, diners, parking lots—is foretold in photorealist paintings that preceded their pictures. At the same time, artists such as John Baldessari, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, Ed Ruscha and, of course, Andy Warhol were exploring the photographic ralPh ss. goingS A image in other, more conceptual terms, taking pictures of their own, as well as using found images, and , M he’s known for his n am Sa incorporating them into their work. straightforward depic- y. opposite: lth R y, A tions of trucks and R Considered in this art historical context, photorealism seems inevitable, yet it has been generally lle gleaming diner still lle Ga sity, W dismissed as a conceit. For more than 30 years, critics and scholars have, for the most part, written it off as an lifes. his McDonald’s Ga Pickup, 1970, below, R example of style trumping substance—of trompe l’oeil bravado. Many 20th-century painters, too, regarded k nive bears an uncanny R u . Meisel enkel o k y the camera as a mere tool, without the potential for creative expression. The photographic image, they resemblance to lee Fra W Friedlander’s Texas, e ndeis ouis n thought, lacked the ideological grandeur—never mind the artistic validity—of painting.
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