Don Bachardy
Encyclopedia
Donald Jess "Don" Bachardy (born May 18, 1934) is an American portrait
artist. He resides in Santa Monica, California
.
, Bachardy was the life partner of writer Christopher Isherwood
, whom he met on Valentine's Day
1953, when he was 18 and Isherwood was 48. They remained together until Isherwood's death in 1986. A number of paperback editions of Isherwood's novel
s feature Bachardy's pencil portraits of the author. A film about their relationship, titled Chris & Don: A Love Story
, was released in 2008.
Bachardy studied at the Chouinard Art Institute
in Los Angeles and the Slade School of Art in London
. His first one-man exhibition was held in October 1961 at the Redfern Gallery in London.
Since that time he had many one-man exhibitions in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston and New York
. More recently, he had an exhibition at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California
, in 2004–2005.
His works reside in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York, the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum of Art in San Francisco, the University of Texas, Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, San Marino, California, the University of California
, Los Angeles, the Fogg Art Museum
of Harvard University
, Princeton University
, the Smithsonian Institute, and the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Six books of his work have been published. His life and works are also documented in Terry Sanders
' film The Eyes of Don Bachardy. He collaborated with Isherwood on Frankenstein: The True Story (1973). His book Stars in My Eyes (2000), about celebrated people whom he had painted, became a best-seller in Los Angeles.
One of Bachardy's most notable works is the official gubernatorial portrait of Governor
Jerry Brown
hanging in the California
State Capitol
. (The California state official biography page for Governor Jerry Brown features a photograph of the painting.)
Most recently, Bachardy made a cameo appearance in the movie A Single Man
(starring Colin Firth
) based on Isherwood's book of the same name—he portrays a professor in the teacher's lounge, to whom Firth says "Hello. Don." Bachardy told Angeleno Magazine in their December 2009 issue: "Chris got the idea for that book when he and I were having a domestic crisis. We'd been together 10 years. I was making a lot of trouble and wondering if I shouldn't be on my own. Chris was going through a very difficult period (as well). So he killed off my character, Jim, in the book and imagined what his life would be without me."
Bachardy still lives in Isherwood's Santa Monica home (his place of residence for over 50 years), where he paints portraits for gallery shows and on a commission basis. In January 2010 he showed a retrospective of self portraits (from 1959–2009) at Craig Krull Gallery in Santa Monica. In Fall of 2011, Bachardy exhibited portraits made over the last 40 years depicting acclaimed artists from Southern California, including Peter Alexander
, Larry Bell
, Billy Al Bengston
, Robert Irwin
, Ed Moses
, and Ed Ruscha at Craig Krull Gallery in conjunction with the Getty initiative Pacific Standard Time.
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
artist. He resides in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
.
Life and work
Born in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, Bachardy was the life partner of writer Christopher Isherwood
Christopher Isherwood
Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
, whom he met on Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
1953, when he was 18 and Isherwood was 48. They remained together until Isherwood's death in 1986. A number of paperback editions of Isherwood's novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s feature Bachardy's pencil portraits of the author. A film about their relationship, titled Chris & Don: A Love Story
Chris & Don
Chris & Don: A Love Story is a 2008 documentary film that chronicles the life-long relationship between author Christopher Isherwood and his much younger lover, artist Don Bachardy. Chris & Don combines present-day interviews, archival footage shot by the couple from the 1950s, excerpts from...
, was released in 2008.
Bachardy studied at the Chouinard Art Institute
Chouinard Art Institute
The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 in Los Angeles, California, by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard .-Founder:...
in Los Angeles and the Slade School of Art in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. His first one-man exhibition was held in October 1961 at the Redfern Gallery in London.
Since that time he had many one-man exhibitions in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston and New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. More recently, he had an exhibition at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California
San Marino, California
San Marino is a small, affluent city in Los Angeles County, California. Incorporated in 1913, the City founders designed the community to be uniquely residential, with expansive properties surrounded by beautiful gardens, wide streets, and well maintained parkways...
, in 2004–2005.
His works reside in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York, the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum of Art in San Francisco, the University of Texas, Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, San Marino, California, the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, Los Angeles, the Fogg Art Museum
Fogg Art Museum
The Fogg Museum, opened to the public in 1896, is the oldest of Harvard University's art museums. The Fogg joins the Busch-Reisinger Museum and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum as part of the Harvard Art Museums....
of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, the Smithsonian Institute, and the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Six books of his work have been published. His life and works are also documented in Terry Sanders
Terry Sanders
Terry Sanders is an American filmmaker having produced and/or directed more than 70 dramatic features, televisions specials, documentaries and portrait films. He co-heads the American Film Foundation and has produced and photographed the Oscar-winning dramatic short "A Time Out of War"...
' film The Eyes of Don Bachardy. He collaborated with Isherwood on Frankenstein: The True Story (1973). His book Stars in My Eyes (2000), about celebrated people whom he had painted, became a best-seller in Los Angeles.
Governor of California
The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
hanging in the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
State Capitol
California State Capitol Museum
The California State Capitol Museum comprises a museum in and grounds around the California State Capitol in Sacramento, California, USA. The building has been the home of the California State Legislature since 1869...
. (The California state official biography page for Governor Jerry Brown features a photograph of the painting.)
Most recently, Bachardy made a cameo appearance in the movie A Single Man
A Single Man (film)
A Single Man is a 2009 drama film based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood. It is the first film directed by Tom Ford. The film stars Colin Firth, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of George Falconer, a depressed gay British university...
(starring Colin Firth
Colin Firth
SirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
) based on Isherwood's book of the same name—he portrays a professor in the teacher's lounge, to whom Firth says "Hello. Don." Bachardy told Angeleno Magazine in their December 2009 issue: "Chris got the idea for that book when he and I were having a domestic crisis. We'd been together 10 years. I was making a lot of trouble and wondering if I shouldn't be on my own. Chris was going through a very difficult period (as well). So he killed off my character, Jim, in the book and imagined what his life would be without me."
Bachardy still lives in Isherwood's Santa Monica home (his place of residence for over 50 years), where he paints portraits for gallery shows and on a commission basis. In January 2010 he showed a retrospective of self portraits (from 1959–2009) at Craig Krull Gallery in Santa Monica. In Fall of 2011, Bachardy exhibited portraits made over the last 40 years depicting acclaimed artists from Southern California, including Peter Alexander
Peter Alexander (artist)
Peter Alexander is an American artist. A member of the Light and Space artistic movement in southern California in the 1960s, he is best known for his resin sculptures from the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...
, Larry Bell
Larry Bell (artist)
Larry Bell is a contemporary American artist and sculptor. He lives and works in Taos, New Mexico, and maintains a studio in Venice, California. From 1957 to 1959 he studied at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles as a student of Robert Irwin, Richards Ruben, Robert Chuey, and Emerson Woelfer...
, Billy Al Bengston
Billy Al Bengston
Billy Al Bengston is an American artist and sculptor who lives and works in Venice, California. He was educated at Los Angeles City College Los Angeles, CA , California College of Arts & Crafts Oakland, CA , and the Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, CA .After seeing the work of Jasper Johns at the...
, Robert Irwin
Robert Irwin (artist)
Robert Irwin is an American Installation artist. He lives and works in San Diego, California.-Beginnings:Robert Irwin was born in 1928 in Long Beach, California to Robert Irwin and Goldie Anderberg Irwin...
, Ed Moses
Ed Moses (artist)
Ed Moses is an American artist based in the Los Angeles area.Born near Long Beach and educated in the mid-1950s at UCLA, Moses was one of the abstract artists with a one-man show at the legendary Los Angeles Ferus Gallery , in the cadre of fellow artists Wallace Berman, Billy Al Bengston, Robert...
, and Ed Ruscha at Craig Krull Gallery in conjunction with the Getty initiative Pacific Standard Time.
Works
- Frankenstein: The True Story. 1973 (with Christopher Isherwood)
- October / O. Methuen, London 1983 (with Christopher Isherwood), ISBN 0-413-50040-3
- One Hundred Drawings. Twelvetrees Press, Los Angeles 1983
- 70 x 1 Drawings. Illuminati, 1983
- Drawings of the male nude. Twelvetrees Press, Pasadena 1985, ISBN 0-942642-18-X
- Christopher Isherwood: Last drawings. Faber and Faber, London/Boston 1990, ISBN 0-571-14075-0 (mit John Russell, Stephen Spender)
- Short cuts: the screenplay. Capra Press, Santa Barbara 1993 (with Robert Altmann, Frank Barhydt), ISBN 0-88496-378-0
- The Portrait. Imprenta Glorias, 1997
- Stars In My Eyes. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison 2000, ISBN 0-299-16730-5
External links
- The Eyes of Don Bachardy (American Film Foundation)
- Portraits by Don Bachardy
- Nudes by Don Bachardy
- Don Bachardy at Craig Krull Gallery
- Oral history interview with Don Bachardy, 2009 May 21 – Oct 7 from the Smithsonian Archives of American ArtArchives of American ArtThe Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 16 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washington, D.C...