%C2%A9 Chuck Close%2C courtesy PaceWildenstein%2C New York
Frank, 1969
Chuck Closeexpand_more
Acrylic on canvasexpand_more
The John R. Van Derlip Fundexpand_more 69.137
Not on Viewexpand_more
The model for this painting was not Frank himself but rather an 8-by-10-inch photograph of him. Since the late 1960s, Chuck Close’s method has been to start with a photographic print that he enlarges and overlays with a grid. He then systematically transposes each gridded block directly onto the canvas or paper, meticulously refining and finishing the image. The result is a technically masterful and ironically monumental portrait. By his painstaking technique, he preserves the objectivity of photography. A work of such grand scope—typical of American painting after 1950—is unsettling, particularly when it features a colossal human head. “The large scale,” Close said, “forces the viewer to read the surface of the painting differently . . . [to] look at it piece by piece.” The details, then, can be perceived either as facial pores and hairs or as an abstract pattern of black, gray, and white.
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Details
- Title
- Frank
- Artist Life
- 1940 - 2021
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 69.137
- Curator Approved
This record is from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator, so may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
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© Chuck Close, courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York