Erwin Bechtold

ERWIN BECHTOLD (Cologne, 1925 - Ibiza, 2022).
Untitled, 1962.
Mixed media on paper.
Signed and dated.
Presents slight stains, and broken glass.
Measurements: 25 × 26 cm; 43 × 49 cm (frame).

This work of 1962 is placed squarely in the informalist stage of Erwin Bechtold, characterized by the expressiveness of matter, the graphic trace and the tension between sign, gesture and surface. The composition combines stains, nervous lines, numbers and typographic fragments, creating an image of fragmentary and dynamic appearance, close to visual collage and graphic experimentation.

The work is particularly interesting within his early production, prior to the consolidation of his geometric language. It shows the influence of his training as a typographer and graphic designer, visible in the use of letters, figures and printed superimpositions, which dialogue with manual strokes of great freedom.

A German painter based in Ibiza, Bechtold made his individual debut in 1950. He participated in the first Salón de Mayo in Barcelona in 1957, was associated with the groups Dau al Set and El Paso, and belonged to SYN. He has exhibited regularly in Barcelona since 1960. In 1962, Bechtold was elected member of the Deutscher Künstlerbund; in 1983, of the Akademie der Künste in Mannheim and, in 1990, he was awarded the honorary title of Professor of the Land Baden-Württemberg. In Ibiza he has been awarded the Premi Illes Pitiuses (2005) and the Premi Ramon Llull de las Illes Balears (2006). In 2005, the Barcelona Gallery dedicated a retrospective exhibition to him on the occasion of his eightieth anniversary, and three years later a monographic exhibition dedicated to his work was held at the Centro de Arte y Naturaleza in Huesca. He is represented at the Tate Gallery in London, the MoMA and the Guggenheim in New York and the Reina Sofía in Madrid, among other centers and institutions around the world.