ART AFICIONADO: Chuck Close

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Chuck Close

Art Appreciation

American painter Chuck Close was known for large scale photorealistic and abstract portraits.

Born on July 5, 1940, in Monroe, Washington, Close began painting at a very young age. In an interview, he mentioned asking his parents for an easel and a set of oil paints when he was five. He added that his parents were supportive of his artistic ambitions.

Close received a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1962. He then received a Master in Fine Arts from Yale University in 1964. After Yale, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna on a Fulbright grant.

Close's first solo exhibition was held at the University of Massachusetts Art Gallery, which was promptly closed because of nudity.

Close was a master in various drawing and painting techniques. It is said his early airbrush techniques inspired the development of the ink jet printer.

His process used a blend of grids and topographic maps of similar colors. After "The Event" which led him to be wheelchair-bound, Close relied on his assistants to create low-resolution grid squares -- pixelated form.

Throughout his career, Close was also a printmaker. His first prints, made in 1972, were made on 3x4 feet copper plates. In the mid-80s he worked with Tadashi Toda, a highly respected woodblock printer in Kyoto.

He received numerous recognitions including a National Medal of Arts from President Bill Clinton in 2000. He was appointed to the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities by President Barack Obama. He resigned that role along with 16 in response to President Donald Trump's comments following the Charlottesville event.

Close passed away on August 19, 2021 from congestive heart failure.