While Richard Diebenkorn and Nathan Oliviera served as Robert Alan Bechtle’s original inspiration, Bechtle desired to avoid the current style in the 1960s, leading him to realism. He is considered one of the first photo realists, along with Richard Estes, Chuck Close, and Ralph Goings. Bechtle depicts outdoor landscapes in his paintings, emulating photographs. Robert Bechtle is inspired by his local surroundings, with a special attention to automobiles. His paintings reveal his perspective on color, light, shadow, and surface. Robert Bechtle is also an accomplished printmaker. Robert Bechtle’s paintings have been exhibited internationally. His paintings are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney and the Guggenheim Museums in New York.
