Chuck Close
Chuck Close (1940-2021), born in Monroe, Washington, lived and worked in New York. Close shaped the visual language of portraiture in a distinctive way. Since the 1960s, he dedicated himself exclusively to depicting the human face in painting and photography, often drawing from his personal circle for his subjects. His monumental, photorealist and abstract portraits are characterized by bold reduction and at the same time resist immediate comprehension. To make his paintings, the artist would superimpose a grid on the photograph and then carefully transfer each cell to his gigantic canvases. This method creates the impression of perception through a diffuse glass layer or a fleeting reflection on moving water. As a result, the subjects seem to exist in a state between manifestation and dissolution, with their appearance changing depending on the viewing distance.
Chuck Close Editions
Phil (Philip Glass)
2002
Set of 3 relief prints with embossment on custom handmade white, grey, and black paper, 67 x 56 cm (26¼ x 22 in) each. Edition of 40, each signed and numbered.
Chuck Close's edition Phil is a portrait of composer and close friend Philip Glass. The starting point was a photograph that the artist overlaid with a grid and then transferred onto the canvas square by square, enlarging it in the process. By using the airbrush technique, Chuck Close achieves a nearly photographic finish. The extreme close-up emphasizes every detail of the face, giving the work a cool, analytical distance that makes it appear more as a visual study than a classic portrait.
Self Portrait
1999
Relief etching on Japanese paper, 100 x 76.2 cm (39 x 30 in). Edition of 99, signed and numbered.
This edition from 1999 portrays Chuck Close in one of his iconic self-portraits rendered in his innovative and distinctive style. Close's composites of multiple small geometric forms are a testament to his skillful brushwork and, reminiscent of pixelated photographs, appear highly contemporary.
