Thunder and Lightening

Bechmann paints Australia the way only an outsider who stayed can — bold, graphic, saturated scenes carried with a plain European calm. Danish-born, he opened Copenhagen's first contemporary print gallery in 1970 and arrived in Australia in 1980.

His collectors included Bob Hawke and Kerry Packer. Surfers International Art Gallery holds the largest collection of his work in the world, and this is one of its strongest.