In the second half of the 1950s, Robert Bechtle studied painting at the California College of the Arts in Oakland and then served in the American army in Berlin. During this time, Bechtle got the opportunity to visit the largest art museums in Europe.

Having returned home, he painted a lot. Besides acrylic painting and watercolors, he was interested in lithography. Between 1978 and 1999, Bechtle taught at San Francisco State University.

Robert Bechtle mainly focused on depicting scenes from the life of middle-class Americans. He portrayed them in a neutral way, trying to ensure that his canvases capture reality, and do not convey his subjective opinion.

Bechtle is considered one of the major proponents of Photorealism. He used a camera instead of a sketchpad, and then used the images and created paintings working from his photographs.

One of the main “subjects” of Bechtle’s work was the car. The painting “Date Palms” features a white Volkswagen Beetle. Since the early 20th century, a car has been an integral part of the American Dream in the era of consumption; only the brand of the most prestigious car and the number of cars a family needed for “complete happiness” have changed over the years.

The American Dream is the set of ideals in the United States, both material and spiritual. Safire’s Political Dictionary defines the American Dream as the ideal of freedom or opportunity.

The “Date Palms” landscape painting features a deserted California street bathed in sunshine, with three cars parked under the palm trees. The hyper-realistic image resembles security camera footage. Bechtle’s major pursuit was in creating the illusion of reality.