In 2017, Close was the subject of sexual harassment allegations by several women
The artist Chuck Close, who became known for his monumental pixellated portraits, has died at the age of 81. ‘I am saddened by the loss of one of my dearest friends and greatest artists of our time. His contributions are inextricable from the achievements of 20th- and 21st-century art,’ said Pace Gallery chairman Arne Glimcher in a statement.
Close was born in 1940 in Monroe, Washington; he later studied at the University of Washington, Seattle, and Yale. Close’s early work in the 1960s saw the artist create close-up photorealist studies of himself and associates. In 1988, a spinal injury confined him to a wheelchair. He responded with new methods of working including strapping a brush to his wrist.
Close began creating vast grid-like portraits of fellow artists – including Cindy Sherman, Philip Glass and Kara Walker – as well as other celebrities: the works were composed of thousands of pieces that became recognisable, mosaic-style, when viewed from a distance.
Close’s later period saw him become the subject of a series of sexual harassment allegations by several women who had posed for him. The claims that the artist had made inappropriate comments – made in 2017, but which concern incidents that date back to 2005 – came amidst the wider #MeToo reckoning across the culture sector; the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC cancelled an upcoming show of Close’s work.
Close later said that he was ‘truly sorry’ if he had made women feel uncomfortable; he refuted the charge of harassment.
