Big Self-Portrait
Big Self-Portrait is a large acrylic painting of Chuck Close by the artist himself, made in 1967–1968. It belongs to the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, which acquired it in 1969. The canvas measures about 273 by 212 centimetres.[1]
Making the image
The black-and-white work was the first of eight large paintings of heads that Close completed in this early period. He worked from a photograph, using a small quantity of water-based pigment in thin layers to reproduce its smooth appearance. The museum describes the painting as approximately nine feet high and seven feet wide.[2]
In a later interview, Close explained that parts of his source photograph were accidentally out of focus. He found the contrast between sharper and softer areas useful when painting it, and deliberately explored this effect in later work. He also described the frontal portrait as a way of treating every part of the picture as important.[3]
Place in Close's work
The Walker purchased the painting directly from Close's studio. It was his first painting to enter a museum collection and was a central work in the museum's 2005 exhibition of his self-portraits.[2] Close later recalled that the image's confrontational appearance was connected with his efforts to establish himself as an artist.[4]
References
- ↑ Walker Art Center. Big Self-Portrait. Collection record 1969.16; dimensions 107½ × 83½ inches. Accessed 9 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Walker Art Center (24 June 2005). “Walker Art Center Premieres Exhibition of Chuck Close Self-Portraits July 24–October 16”.
- ↑ Siri Engberg and Madeleine Grynsztejn (1 July 2005). “Navigating the Self”. Interview with Chuck Close, Walker Art Center.
- ↑ Walker Art Center (9 October 2014). “Chuck Close Discusses Big Self-Portrait (1967–1968)”. Excerpt from a 1980 discussion.