A Retrospective of a Hollywood Portrait Legend

“For stars from Bette Davis to Angelina Jolie, the ultimate rite of passage since the 1950s has been sitting for the legendary Don Bachardy,” Michael Slenske wrote for The Hollywood Reporter. On Saturday, over 100 works of art and archival materials from Bachardy’s life and career will be on display at The Huntington’s MaryLou and George Boone Gallery.

One of L.A.’s most acclaimed portraitists, Bachardy’s works convey a sense of intimacy and capture his subjects with remarkable likeness. While his work includes portraits of celebrated figures from art, literature, and entertainment, Bachardy also drew people imortant to his life, including his lovers. \

Marilyn Monroe and Don Bachardy, 1951. Credit: The Huntington.

Born in 1934 in Los Angeles, Bachardy developed a love for Hollywood glamor through his mother Glade, who regularly took him and his older brother, Ted, to the movies. This early captivation with celebrities, and Bachardy’s attentive observation of their faces, would later shape the direction of his artistic career. In his book, Stars in My Eyes, Bachardy stated, “I’m convinced that my interest in looking at people came directly from gazing, when I was very young and impressionable, at closeups of movie actors several hundred times larger than life.”

Bachardy was 18 when his brother Ted introduced him to Christopher Isherwood. Despite a 30-year age gap, Bachardy and Isherwood bonded quickly and were a couple until Isherwood’s death in 1986. Isherwood, both an artistic muse and a steadfast supporter of Bachardy’s work, is featured in thousands of portraits made during their 33-year relationship.

Reflecting on his support, Bachardy stated: “With [Isherwood’s] encouragement and support, emotional as well as financial, I gained enough confidence in my talent to become a dedicated full-time artist.” His relationship with Isherwood, a screenwriter with deep connections in Hollywood, gave him access to a distinguished circle of artists and entertainers. As a result, Bachardy’s early fascination with Hollywood icons came full circle when stars he admired began visiting his studio. In 1973, Bette Davis—whose image Bachardy had once copied from magazines—sat for a portrait. Upon seeing the portrait, Davis quipped, “Yup, that’s the old bag.”

“My work with well-known people is only a small percentage of my total output, but I tend to write more about those sittings because they are much more likely to be demanding, even frustrating,” wrote Bachardy. “I am often under pressure from insufficient working time and a variety of obstacles, including my own awe of the sitter.”

Bachardy generally completes his portraits in a single session lasting two to six hours, working in close proximity to his subjects with an intense gaze. “The experience of a sitting, of being alone with another person while looking intently at him or her, often for several hours, is like no other I know,” stated Bachardy. “That experience is the real subject of my work.” Utilizing graphic and ink wash, and later acrylic, his works are created with quick, expressive lines and shading. He often leaves parts of the body only loosely rendered. “The departure of my sitter is like the breaking of a spell. I never alter any detail of the work I’ve done once the sitting has ended.”

Covering over seven decades, “Don Bachardy: A Life in Portraits” will present the artist’s work chronologically and thematically, highlighting pieces from each decade of his career. The exhibition will be on view through August 4, 2025.