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Robert Bechtle is an American painter, born in San Francisco, California, on May 14, 1932. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts from the California College of Arts and Crafts, now the California College of the Arts, in Oakland, California.
Except for his military service in Germany, Bechtle has lived all his life in the Bay Area; and his art is centered on scenes from everyday life.
He started drawing at a young age and, with encouragement from his teachers and his family, pursued a future as an artist. By submitting a portfolio of artwork to a national competition, Bechtle won a scholarship that paid for his first year of college. When he graduated, he was drafted and sent to Berlin, where he painted murals in the Mess Hall and delighted in visiting European museums. Besides making paintings, watercolors, and drawings—he is an accomplished printmaker. Bechtle began in lithography but, after 1982 when Crown Point Press began publishing his prints, worked mainly in etching.
He taught at San Francisco State University and lives in San Francisco's Potrero Hill neighborhood.
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