"His paintings almost always included a car"

Robert Bechtle, the artist who painted photorealist scenes of Bay Area suburbia, died Thursday in Berkeley, California. He was 88 years old.

Bechtle was born on May 14, 1932, in San Francisco and was raised in Sacramento by his mother following his father’s death when he was 12. His mother worked as a schoolteacher to support Bob and his younger brother Ken, and when Bob began showing an interest in drawing and painting, she nurtured his budding talent.

I’ve never seen his stuff in person, but I’d been a fan for many years.

More to see at the Gladstone Gallery, and at Crown Point Press.