As an American painter and photographer, Chuck Close is most famous for his photo-realist works. In honing the techniques of this particular style, his photo-based pieces mainly depict the subject of the human face. The majority of his paintings are created on a massive scale. In mastering the crafts of photography, tapestries and printmaking, he is recognised in his industry for his unique combinations of photography and painting.
Close established his style after graduating from Yale with a Masters’ in Fine Arts, where he transitioned from heavy abstract to photo-realism. Close himself suggested that his style was a type of “knitting”, where photos and painting become intertwined on the surface. As a sufferer of face-blindness, Close cannot recognise even the most familiar faces, making his earlier works of detailed portraits all the more remarkable. Among his successes in the art world, Close’s airbrush techniques inspired the progress of the inkjet printer.
The 1970s were a milestone for Chuck Close, as his pieces were being seen by eyes all over the world. Before long, he gained a position in The President’s Committee on the Arts and The Humanities, which was awarded to him by both President Clinton and President Obama. Though in the midst of his success as an artist, Close was left paralysed after experiencing a catastrophic artery collapse in 1988. Despite that, he has not been held back and after returning to painting, Close is still considered to be a distinguished and influential American artist.
Chuck Close has produced many prints, his first prints being created in the 1960s. Many of Chuck Close’ prints were screen prints though he also created etching prints, engraving prints, woodcut prints and lithography prints. All of Chuck Close prints are original prints as Close saw printmaking as a distinct medium to create artworks.
