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CHUCK CLOSE
(American, born 1940)
Phil III, 1982
Cast handmade paper
68 7/8 x 52 5/8”
Purchase: Gaines Challenge Fund 1983.23

Chuck Close—American painter, printmaker, and photographer—was educated at the University of Washington, Seattle, at Yale University, and at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna. He initially worked in the style of the Abstract Expressionists, but later copied black and white photographs onto canvases. Indeed, Close found his niche painting large-scale portraits that were copied from photographs. He reproduced the photos in great detail, and he did not deviate from the original in any way. By doing so, he was able to master the variations in focus and depth that are inherent within photography. Close also worked with handmade papers to construct portraits such as. Phil III. Reminiscent of Georges Seurat’s pointillist technique, Close’s assembly of small bits of paper not only enhance the light, shadow, and texture of the work, but it also adds a contemporary flair. Upon first glance, this work appears to be a digitally distorted photograph, and exhibits Close’s use of the grid as a basis for his images.