Otto Duecker

American, b. 1948

Birth PlaceTulsa, Oklahoma, United States, North America

BiographyOtto Duecker (born 1948, Tulsa, Oklahoma) is an American Hyperrealist painter and draughtsman.

Artist Otto Duecker was born in Milwaukee and raised in the Netherlands, Turkey and Germany before his family eventually settled in Oklahoma. In 1970 he earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from Oklahoma State University. Much of Duecker's early work focused on marginal members of society. He became known for his Hyperrealist renderings of floating fruit, still lifes and most recently his near photographic oil paintings of both contemporary and historical celebrities. In order to achieve his desired effect, Duecker relies on traditional oil paint and brushes with a classical application.

Using the grisaille technique (a method of painting with only shades of gray) Duecker paints "snapshots" of famous figures. He not only precisely portrays the individual, as perceived by the camera, but also captures the tonalities and surface texture of the photographs themselves. In a still-life format, he paints renditions of the snapshots as objects casually pinned or taped to a wall - cracked, torn or slightly crumpled and casting realistic shadows.

Person TypeIndividual