Difference between revisions 7871468 and 7873292 on simplewiki

[[File:Theo Bechteler Der Fischer Hofgarten Immenstadt.jpg|thumb|upright|{{center|''Der Fischer'', Hofgartenanlage, Immenstadt}}]]
[[File:Theo Bechteler Tanzfiguration Hofgarten Immenstadt.jpg|thumb|upright|{{center|''Tanzfiguration'', Hofgartenanlage, Immenstadt}}]]
[[File:Theo Bechteler Türgriffe Eingang Hofgarten Immenstadt.jpg|thumb|{{center|Door handles on the entrance doors to the courtyard garden, Immenstadt}}]]

'''Theo Bechteler''' (8 February 1903 in [[Immenstadt]] -– 22 June 1993 in [[Augsburg]]; complete name ''Theodor Bechteler''<ref name="Villa Romana Preisträger">[https://www.villaromana.org/front_content.php?idcat=24&lang=1 Preisträger der Villa Romana seit 1905]</ref>) was a German [[sculptor]] and painter.

== Privateersonal life ==
Bechteler was born as the youngest son of Theoder Bechteler (1861-1911) and eight [[sibling]]s. His older brother [[Eduard Bechteler]] also pursued an artistic career. In 1932, he married Elfriede Kristeleit from [[Königsberg]], with whom he had four children including one [[daughter]] ([[Else Bechteler-Moses]]) and one son ([[Christoph Bechteler]]). After returning to his hometown Immenstadt and several years of residence, the last change of residence came in 1955, finally to [[Augsburg]]. Bechteler lived there until his death in 1993 at age 90.

== Artistic career ==
After finishing school in Immenstadt, he completed an [[apprenticeship]] as a [[Woodcarving|woodcarver]] in [[Oberammergau]] from 1920 to 1922 and studied [[sculpture]] in Berlin [[Charlottenburg]]. During his studies, Bechteler received a [[scholarship]] of a quarter of a year in Paris around 1929. 

== Works during National Socialism ==
With his works (only a few have survived from this period, e.g. a striding ''Lovers'') Bechteler, an up-and-coming artist in the early 1930s, attracted the hostility of the [[Nazi]]s. A ''[[de facto]]'' [[exhibition]] ban followed, with few exceptions, until the end of the war. During this time he worked as a [[craft]]sman.

== Other artistic activities ==
Bechteler became a member of the [[Deutscher Künstlerbund]] in 1958, in whose major annual exhibitions he participated between 1956 (in the exhibition halls of the Ehrenhof district of Düsseldorf and 1990 (in the [[Academy of Arts, Berlin]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110628022646/http://www.kuenstlerbund.de/deutsch/historie/archiv-seit-1950/ausstellungen/1990.html kuenstlerbund.de: ''Der Deutsche Künstlerbund in Berlin 1990''].</ref>) a total of 25 times. In the mid-1960s, he was also a member of the ''[[Neue Gruppe|Neue Gruppe München]]''.<ref>[http://www.neuegruppe-hausderkunst.de/archiv.html neuegruppe-hausderkunst.de: ''Verstorbene Mitglieder der Neuen Gruppe (mit Geburts- und Todesjahr)'']</ref> He participated in the 1963 Great Art Exhibition in the Munich [[Haus der Kunst]] together with his wife Else.<ref> in the official exhibition catalogue ''Haus der Kunst - Große Kunstausstellung München 1963'', Abt. Neue Gruppe: ''Bechteler, Else, Augsburg'': Cat. Nr. 524 (''Grün'', oil, 30x30 cm) |''Bechteler, Theo, Augsburg'': Cat.Nr. 525 (''Boboligarten'', bronze, 35x50x33 cm)</ref>

Through his commitment, the [[Augsburg Art Association]], which had not existed since 1944, was refounded in 1963.

== Further reading ==
* ''Theo Bechteler'',<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/title/theo-bechteler/oclc/248924286&referer=brief_results ''Theo Bechteler''] on WorldCat</ref> Thomas Elsen and [[Manfred de la Motte]], {{ISBN|3936711143}}
* Rudolf Vogel (ed.), ''Immenstadt im Allgäu''. [[Landscape]], history, society, economy, cultural and religious life over the centuries, Immenstadt 1996

== References ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bechteler, Theo}}
[[Category:German sculptors]]
[[Category:German painters]]
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Bavaria]]