Chuck Close

This volume, the most comprehensive assessment of Chuck Close's work yet published, accompanied a mid-career retrospective exhibition that opened at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, on February 25, 1998. A leading figure in the New York art world since the early 1970s, Close has recently concentrated on portraits of his artist friends and colleagues, characterized by colorful patterning and vivid brushwork. Subjects include Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Alex Katz, Kiki Smith, Lucas Samaras, and Lorna Simpson. Here, more than 90 paintings, prints, drawings, and photographs are reproduced, along with details and comparative illustrations.

Chuck Close was born in Monroe, Washington, in 1940 and studied visual art at Yale University. Photography has been an integral part of his painting process since the mid-60s, and later became a body of work in its own right. Close has also distinguished himself as a master of printmaking. Since 1967 his work has been the subject of more than 100 major exhibitions throughout the world.

Kirk Varnedoe, formerly chief curator of the Department of Painting and Sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, is professor of historical studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University.

Robert Storr is a curator, artist and critic who is the Dean of the Art School at Yale University. Among his many books is Modern Despite Modernism.

Deborah Wye is the Chief Curator in the Department of Prints and illustrated books at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.