Don Bachardy

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The 20 year old Bachardy, photographed by Carl van Vechten .
Bachardy, photographed by Henning von Berg , 2004

Don Bachardy (born May 18, 1934 in Los Angeles ) is an American artist and art collector . He portrays contemporary writers, musicians, actors and politicians.

biography

Don Bachardy grew up in a sheltered middle class family in Los Angeles. He began to study art at the then leading Californian art school Chouinard Art Institute, then moved to London to the Slade School of Art and specialized increasingly in nudes and portraits . A decisive turning point was the meeting of the 18-year-old in 1953 with the then very prominent 48-year-old writer Christopher Isherwood (1904–1986). Through him Bachardy came into contact with well-known people of contemporary history. The relationship with the 30-year-old man was considered a scandal , but the two confidently maintained a lifelong partnership and remained an openly gay couple for 32 years .

They also complemented each other artistically in many ways. Various works by Isherwood were created in close collaboration with Bachardy (including his pencil portraits in Frankenstein: The True Story (1973) and October / O. (1980)), while numerous prominent authors, musicians, artists, politicians and actors portray themselves by Bachardy let (e.g. Tennessee Williams , Igor Stravinsky , Jack Nicholson , Jerry Brown , Greta Garbo ).

Bachardy's first own exhibition took place in October 1961 at the Redfern Gallery in London. Today Bachardy's paintings and drawings hang in numerous museums and well-known collections. a. at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York , the National Portrait Gallery in London, the MH de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC

At the end of the 1980s, Bachardy von Isherwood inherited not only the lucrative book rights, but also a valuable collection of paintings. For decades, Isherwood had financially supported their mutual friend David Hockney through purchases. Today Isherwood's collection is considered the most important private collection of Hockney's works. Bachardy brought the Hockney Collection to an art foundation in the 1990s and, in parallel to safeguarding author's rights, founds the Christopher Isherwood Foundation . After Isherwood's death, Bachardy lives in the shared beach house above Santa Monica Beach. In the 12-minute short film The Eyes of Don Bachardy , director Terry Sanders documented the life and works of Bachardy.

Publications

  • 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 × 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 (with John Russell, Stephen Spender)
  • Short cuts: the screenplay . Capra Press, Santa Barbara 1993 (with Robert Altman , 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

literature

  • Daniel Curzon: Remembering Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy . In: Harrington Gay Men's Fiction Quarterly . Volume 6 (2004), Issue 1

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bachardy, Don
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American painter and draftsman
DATE OF BIRTH May 18, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Los Angeles , California , USA