Lawrence Bechtel

Lawrence Reid Bechtel is an American figurative sculptor. Born into a literary family, he was captivated by Jack London stories and Tolkien’s Lord of the Ring, and later by the works of William Blake and Marcel Proust. The works of these and other authors inspired his appreciation for the picturesque character and dramatic moment—both of which he tries to capture in his sculpture.  Divorce in 1990 was shattering; Lawrence recuperated by sculpting small clay figures and faces, baked hard in the oven. One such figure came out blackened; the figure, it seemed to Lawrence, had like an effigy absorbed his own pain. This was a revelatory moment, which impelled him toward learning everything he could about sculpture-making. He became a member of the National Sculpture Society, attended sculpture workshops at Brookgreen Gardens, studied anatomy, built (with help) a studio. In 1998, he was commissioned by a patron in Charlottesville to do a bronze garden sculpture: Rapture, a dancing satyr. Calling the Powers, now located in the Ann Masters Memorial Garden area, on the Roanoke Greenway, followed.  In 2004, he completed Officer Down for the Roanoke Police Department, and in the years following completed Addison Caldwell and That I May Serve, both located on the Virginia Tech campus, and in 2023, Henrietta Lacks, located on the plaza in front of the Noel C. Taylor Building. In between the times required for these and other commissions, Lawrence has continued to create a variety of smaller works for the home or garden. He is grateful to The Little Gallery for the opportunity to offer a selection of these works.