DON BACHARDY'S HOLLYWOOD

Artist Don Bachardy, now 80, is one of the greatest chroniclers of Hollywood’s big name faces. As the longtime partner of novelist Christopher Isherwood (Cabaret), Bachardy had access to some films most iconic figures. Hollywood (Glitterati), the portraits of Don Bachardy include; Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn, George Cukor, Montgomery Clift, Fred Astaire, Edith Head, those faces seen here and more...

“I started to ask my sitters to sign and date my drawings because I wanted to make it clear it was done from life. Years later, I realized that the sitter’s signature is just as important as my own. It’s a collaboration. The better they sit, the better the portrait is. It’s our picture. We’re doing it together. I am continually surprised to look at someone who is sitting for me because it is unnatural to sit still for hours at a time and have someone staring, peering, looking right through them. None of us like being stared at intentionally. I’ve often thought maybe I became an artist to have an excuse to look deeply at people. We choose professions that give us extra license.”

You can buy Hollywood here and see more work at his New York gallery, Cheim and Read.

Holly Woodlawn

Warren Beatty

Carol Burnett

Jack Nicholson

Natasha Richardson

Kenneth Anger