Origins & Early Life

Charles Thomas Close (July 5, 1940 – August 19, 2021) was an American painter, visual artist, and photographer who made massive-scale photorealist and abstract portraits of himself and others. Close also created photo portraits using a very large format camera. He adapted his painting style and working methods in 1988, after being paralyzed by an occlusion of the anterior spinal artery. Chuck Close was born in Monroe, Washington.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

His father, Leslie Durward Close, died when Chuck was 11 years old. His mother's name was Mildred Wagner Close. As a child, Close had a neuromuscular condition that made it difficult to lift his feet and a bout with nephritis that kept him out of school for most of sixth grade. In school, he did poorly due to his dyslexia, which was not diagnosed at the time. Most of his early works were very large portraits based on photographs, using photorealism or hyperrealism, of family and friends, often other artists.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Close said he had prosopagnosia (face blindness), and suggested that this condition is what first inspired him to do portraits. Author Graham Thompson writes "One demonstration of the way photography became assimilated into...

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