Lot 76
  • 76

ROBERT BECHTLE | Santa Barbara Patio

Estimate
120,000 - 180,000 USD
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Description

  • Robert Bechtle
  • Santa Barbara Patio
  • signed, titled and dated 1983 on the reverse 
  • oil on canvas
  • 48 by 59 in. 122 by 152 cm.

Provenance

OK Harris, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner in May 1984

Literature

Louis K. Meisel, Photorealism Since 1980, New York 1993, cat. no. 78, p. 34, illustrated
Exh. Cat., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Robert Bechtle: A Retrospective, 2005, p. 43, illustrated in color

Condition

This work is in very good condition overall. There is evidence of handling and wear to the edges, including scattered scuffs to the pigment, most notably at the upper left corner on the left and top edges, as well as a few scattered pinpoint losses to the pigment at the extreme edges, most notably on the left edge 6 inches from the bottom right corner. Further close inspection reveals a 4 inch diagonal linear scuff running parallel to the seated figure's arm, beginning 11 inches from the top edge and 23 inches from the right edge and extending downward toward the right edge. Under Ultraviolet light inspection, there is no evidence of restoration. Framed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Santa Barbara Patio depicts Richard McLean, who, along with the artist of the present work, Robert Bechtle and Ralph Goings, was counted among the preeminent Photorealist painters on the West Coast. "Bechtle grapples with serious issues of representation, but he does so in such a laboriously off-hand way that it takes a while for a viewer to realize what the artist is up to, and just how good he is. Bechtle has taken on the sorts of problems that artists of all representational stripes are dealing with these days—particularly the transmutation of the photographic image—and he has, over a span of 40-odd years, come up with real answers. He has proven himself to be a first-rate painter, draftsman and printmaker, and as these recent shows make clear, someone to whom we should pay serious attention." Richard Kalina in: "Matters of Fact," Art in America, October 2005, p. 137