Close`s Heritage Essay, Research Paper

Born in Monroe, Washington, in 1940, Close studied painting at Yale University

before moving to New York in 1967. Although he greatly admired Abstract

Expressionist painters such as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and, especially,

Willem de Kooning, he wrote, "They nailed it down so wellthat I couldn’t do

anything but weak impersonations of their work. . . . Once you know what art

looks like, it’s not hard to make some of it. . . . The dilemma I found myself

in after having gotten out of graduate school is enjoying making art but not

liking what I made." Close’s paintings were based on black-and-white

photographs he took of himself and his artist friends, all of whom were fairly

unknown at the time. He enlarged and transferred the photographic images to

canvas by a process of grids. Close didn’t want to make Pop posters of famous

people. Chuck Close liked to use a grid method where he drew each portion of the

paintings on a grid, block for block making near perfect replicas of the photo

or he would make abstract pictures. Linda is a very realistic piece made with

acrylic and pencil on canvas. Close drew it exactly as a photo very clear around

the face, eyes, nose, and mouth. However the outside of the hair, the cheek, the

neck and below are all blurred. Just as in a photo. Linda is a middle age woman

with brown curly hair and lots of make up. There are very thin lines everywhere

in no specific direction, lots used under the eyes. Color is used a lot, there’s

red to show the make-up, white to show glare, blue shows eye shadow colors are

obviously mixed to get the realistic skin tone. There is lots of value to get a

realistic look for example the fading color of the make-up. The tome of this

piece is a medium tone. Highlights are used in the eyes, nose, mouth, and inner

cheeks. The texture is sooth. There are no specific shapes that close used,

there are however Organic shapes as a result of his use of the grid. Like the

curls on the hair, the oval shaped eyes, etc. There is No negative space the

only possible negative space is the background, which is even shaded. The color

is the strongest element there are so many blended to make such a realistic look

it just draws me to the picture, only by looking very closely do I realize it’s

a painting. I think the design principle rhythm is mostly in the hair how it

just curls around, down into the face it make you look everywhere. The mood of

this piece is very dull the woman looks like she’s had a rough day, and is

tired. The focal point is the woman’s face where it is not blurred. This piece

is asymmetrically balanced. This piece is a self-portrait done with oil on

canvas; the entire thing is done on a grid with different shapes and shades of

gray. Each box on the grid looked at closely is a circle or an X or oval but

step back and it is a picture of a middle age Chuck Close. The use of lines is

mainly in the grid. The color is black and white, with different shades of gray.

There is a wide range of value, each block blends to make a big picture. The

tone is dark and the contrast is low. There are highlights used on the face. The

texture is smooth. The shapes are lots of X’s and O’s on a grid to make a

portrait. He uses positive space every block is accounted for even the

background. Shape is the strongest element because the whole thing is made with

individual shapes. The element of value grabs my attention best, if there were

no value you wouldn’t be able to see the big picture. This piece shows rhythm by

using the shapes on the grid, it makes me look more closely. The directional

movement moves toward the portrait. The shape also show unity with how they are

pieced together to make the portrait. I think to mood of this piece is dull he

the picture of close him self is not too dull but since it’s in black and white

it is, an overall dull painting. The focal point of this painting is on the

painting of Chuck Close. This piece is asymmetrically balanced. The two pictures

are pretty much the same theme. The both are pictures of people that are not

necessarily famous. Neither person looks like there in a very good mood, or are

attractive. They both are done using the grid method, where each block is put

together to make a big picture. The difference between these two pieces is the

look. The realistic one is very real looking while the abstract one is obvious

what the picture is it looks very much like a drawing. Each grid is used to make

shapes while in the realistic one the grid is used just to portion off areas

that Close can draw perfectly. Chuck Close is so far my favorite artist I have

analyzed. He puts a lot of time in his work. Especially for the realistic

paintings and for the abstract paintings he also puts in lots of time, but I

especially like the creativity in the grid of the abstract paintings. Chuck

Close is someone I can really admire.

1) Chuck Close by Robert Storr, Curator in the department of painting and

sculpture at the museum of Modern Art, New York. 2) The Chuck Close Brochure at

the Hirshorn Museum.