A Life Captured in Graphite and Light

Born in Los Angeles in 1934, Don Bachardy developed an eye for the human presence that would define much of his seventy-year career. His training took him from the Chouinard Art Institute in his home city to the Slade School of Art in London, providing a technical foundation that favored direct observation over abstraction. He began drawing in his teens, driven by a fascination with the figures found in cinema and the people inhabiting the classic Hollywood era. This early interest in the moving image eventually translated into a disciplined approach to the sitting, where he sought to capture the essence of a subject within single, intensive sessions of two to three hours.

In 1953, at the age of nineteen, his life became inextricably linked with the writer Christopher Isherwood. Their partnership lasted until 1986, and together they inhabited a Santa Monica home that became a quiet center for a wide social circle. This period of his life was marked by a dual existence as both an artist and a companion to one of the era's significant literary figures. While much of his personal history is documented through their shared correspondence and collaborative books like October, his individual identity remained rooted in the graphite and acrylic he applied to paper and canvas.

The Art of the Sitting

Bachardy’s method was one of rigorous presence. He worked primarily with graphite and acrylic, techniques that allowed for both the fine detail of a pencil portrait and the bolder use of color found in his later works. His approach relied on the live sitter; he believed that the animation and personality of a subject could only be caught when they were physically present in his studio. This commitment to drawing from life led him to produce an immense body of work, estimated at approximately 15,000 portraits. His subjects ranged from neighbors and friends to figures such as Jack Nicholson, Bette Davis, and Natalie Wood.

The evolution of his style moved from intense, monochromatic studies toward a more confident use of color. This shift is visible in the progression of his exhibitions, from early one-man shows at the Redfern Gallery in London in 1961 to major retrospectives at the Huntington Library. His ability to capture a likeness that felt both accurate and spirited earned him a place in several permanent collections, including:

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• The Smithsonian Institution
• The National Portrait Gallery, London
• The M.H. de Young Museum of Art, San Francisco
• The Whitney Museum of American Art

A Documentarian of a Century

Beyond the individual portraits, Bachardy’s work functions as a visual record of mid-to-late 20th-century cultural life. His drawings documented the faces of authors like Aldous Huxley and Paul Bowles, alongside the actors of the Hollywood Golden Age. Through his books, such as Stars in My Eyes and One Hundred Drawings, he shared these observations with a broader public. Even his more personal works, including collections of drawings of the male nude or the final sketches of Christopher Isherwood, contribute to a larger narrative of a life lived through the observation of others.

He continued to work from his studio in Santa Monica Canyon long after the era of his most famous companions had passed. His legacy is found not in a single movement, but in the sheer volume of faces he preserved on paper. He remains an artist who stayed true to the craft of portraiture, documenting the changing landscape of Los Angeles and its inhabitants with a steady, observant hand.