Don Bachardy
Neal Baer
2014
Acrylic on paper
29 x 23 in
Photograph by Blaine Davis. Image courtesy of the artist and Craig Krull Gallery.
Don Bachardy was born in 1934 and is based in Los Angeles, known for his portraits of celebrities and cultural figures, particularly the literary circle around Christopher Isherwood and W.H. Auden in the 1960s and 70s. Bachardy studied at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and at the Slade Art School in London. In 1961, he had his first one-man exhibition at the Redfern Gallery in London. Bachardy was partner of writer Isherwood and lived with him in Santa Monica from 1952 until Isherwood’s death in 1986.
Bachardy’s process parallels that of David Hockney, a good friend, and anticipates Elizabeth Peyton‘s fine-lined portraits…Bachardy asks his sitters to sign the drawings with him, confirming the collaborative aspect of his process. Ultimately, the viewer collaborates too: in looking at the portraits, one reactivates the initial exchange, meeting the gaze of a past era.
Press release, “Don Bachardy: Portraits From a Canyon: Los Angeles in the 60s and 70s,” Cheim & Read, 2013
As with all of Bachardy’s portraits, this portrait of Neal Baer was produced over many hours in one sitting.
Provenance
See also
Don Bachardy in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Don Bachardy in the collection of the De Young Museum
Don Bachardy in the collection of the Fogg Museum
Don Bachardy in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery