Bechtler Museum

 

          Last Friday we went to the Bechtler Museum, probably my favorite museum to date. We saw some amazing and iconic pieces and I got to see a Lichtenstein, who is my favorite artists.

            With that intro, the first piece I chose was a tapestry called Modern Tapestry.  Sitting at 9 by a little over 12 feet, the piece is a little overwhelming and it sits seemingly alone beside another very small Lichtenstein called Flowers, dwarfed in comparison. I had to stand about fifteen feet away just to take in such a large object.

            It is a picture of a person with long blonde hair, and contrasting modern and ancient architectural designs, a Roman Column and a paint palette, and clouds in the air. On his right is a sunrise in the background with modern buildings, an airplane, a steam engine boat, and tubes that appear as wings on the right of the person.

            Interestingly enough, when I asked how the piece was created, (it was made on a rug-like material, not a printed sheet) I was told that it had been designed and custom made by a rug company. Interestingly enough, the focus on modern life was also reflected in the rug itself as a rug has become a very normalized part of a house. I found that very versatile because very few artists are aware of crossing mediums and even fewer are successful at it. 

            I feel it’s very hard to articulate why Lichtenstein is my favorite. I can describe things I like but I can’t really tell why he’s my favorite, but I love pop art and those like Lichtenstein and Warhol just Lichtenstein’s comic-like pieces that either have social and political critiques or even nothing at all are so perfectly done to me. I feel as if those who become our favorite connect us to art in a way others haven’t, showing the natural way art connects people to itself.

            Probably my favorite part of his work is his lack of context in the pieces themselves. A lot of them, like Modern Tapestry, are that of a face a very little else, except a text box. However a text box was sacrificed in this pieces for a pretty detailed background. Putting man in the middle of the modern movement and putting things we normally see in our lives, like architecture, planes, and boats, in the context of living, breathing art. Similar to Warhol and the tomato soup cans, we tend to normalize very artistic things that surround us every day.

            Personally I feel connected to this piece because I feel like it is the art of my time. Although not entirely true, I feel pop art is the modern art. As much as I love classical artists and traditional artists, the manipulation of different art forms is something I find truly amazing. The movement of using normal images, like soup cans and celebrities, and capturing the beauty of things that already exist is something I feel everyone can learn from.

            The second piece I chose leads into something I wanted to talk about as far as the museum itself goes. The Bechtler Family Portraits by Andy Warhol are interesting pieces by themselves, but symbolize something much deeper about the relationship of art, collectors, and society.

            Eight total pieces arranged in two rows of four at the museum, depict the Bechtler family from what looks like family pictures. In typical Warhol style, blotted ink verging abstract art, include vivid colors and accented features. Specifically for the Bechtler family, the background colors ranged from tonal reds and yellow to faded neon blues and greens. Most of the family has accented eyes and emphasis of detail on the faces themselves.

            Personally I connected with these in the same way I connect with Lichtenstein, for his emphasis and color contrasted against celebrities and in this case, the Bechtler family. Recognizable and unanimous with artists in other fields of his day, people from the Beatles to Marilyn Monroe all had their images re-illustrated by Warhol. Somewhat of an unappreciated cog in society to a certain generation through his widespread acceptance, he attempted to show the art in things from the modern art movement that had been normalized.

            However I think the pieces convey a larger message about culture and art. The concept that an individual family could have portraits made by one of the “Pope of Pop” himself is iconic. Although commissioned by Hans Bechtler himself, it still speaks to the relationship of buyers and artists, as well as society and artists.

            Specifically, Hans and Bessie Bechtler single-handedly had a profound impact on the Swiss art scene through their close personal relationships with artists. The Bechtlers arranged concerts and galleries, purchased pieces from living artists, and commissioned others. Both Hans and Bessie had an invested interested in almost all aspects of art which allows art to be successful. All forms of art, no matter art, literature, or music, requires public recognition, a market, and buyers, all which influence each other.

            In context of both of these pieces being from pop art, both require a separate dialogue on why pop art was so influential to almost all forms of art. Pop art effectively took on a large part of the modern art movement and showed that even though these things were in our lives regularly, that it didn’t mean it wasn’t art. Lichtenstein with comic panel art, Warhol’s Campbell Soup Cans, and Jasper Johns American flags in Three Flags.

            In other forms of art, there is a push to recognize the normal as beautiful. In architecture and design, the push was simplicity and universality of design. In music, the push was more focus on nature and a self-positive movement. In literature, the push was on shorter but denser works to focus on the value of everyday life.

            As far as the museum visit went, I really enjoyed the Bechtler Museum. Learning about the Bechtlers, their history, and their collection of art was fascinating. I also enjoyed pages from the Bechtler Birthday Book where artists created birthday cards and thank you cards and they were compiled into a book, showing whom their relationships were with personally.

            I feel as if the Bechtler family is a shining example of support for the art community. Being a staple in the Swiss art community and bringing half the collection down to a major city heart of the southeast United States is a blessing. I do believe I’ll visit m