Donald Baechler was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1956. He received a BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland and a MFA from Cooper Union in New York, New York. 

Baechler's recent solo and group exhibitions include "Corner Space" at Anna Bohman Gallery in Stockholm, Sweden (2024); "Color & Form" at Pace Prints in New York, New York (2024); "Paint Traveller" at Art Pavilion in Zagreb, Croatia (2023); "Some People" at Cheim & Read in New York, New York (2022); "Recent Birds" at Anna Bohman Gallery in Stockholm, Sweden (2021); "Nature Morte" at The Hole Gallery in New York, New York (2021); Tennis Elbow at The Journal Gallery in New York, New York (2020); "Garden" at Sargent’s Daughters in New York, New York (2019); "Donald Baechler: Art in the Park XVI" at Baur au Lac Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland (2018); "Donald Baechler" at Cheim & Read in New York, New York (2017); "Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978-1983" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, New York (2017); "Early Works 1980 – 1984" at Gavlak Gallery in Los Angeles, California (2016); and "Donald Baechler" at Pace Prints in New York, New York (2015). 

Baechler's work is held in public collections including the Albertina Museum in Vienna, Austria; Centre Pompidou in Paris, France; Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris, France; Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia, Italy; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, New York; Malmö Konsthall in Malmö, Sweden; Musée d'art moderne et contemporain de Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France; Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, California; Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachussetts; Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas; Museum Ludwig in Budapest, Hungary; Museum of Modern Art in New York, New York; Orlando Museum of Art in Orlando, Florida; Sammlung Ludwig in Aachen, Germany; Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, New York. 

Donald Baechler died in New York, New York in 2022.