Cromatologia

anno accademico 2016/2017

Daniele Torcellini

Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti

Genova
- Chuck Close
American painter and printmaker. He studied (196065) at the University of Washington, Seattle,
at Yale University and at the Akademie der Bildenden Knste in Vienna. During this period he
painted biomorphic abstract works, influenced by the avant-garde American art of the previous
two decades. After a brief experiment with figurative constructions, he began copying black-and-
white photographs of a female nude in colour on to canvas. After abandoning this approach he
used a black-and-white palette, which resulted in the 6.7 m long Big Nude (19678; artists col.,
see Lyons and Storr, p. 14). Finding this subject too interesting, he turned to neutral, black-and-
white head-and-shoulder photographs as models, which he again reproduced in large scale on
canvas, as in Self-portrait (1968; Minneapolis, MN, Walker A. Cent.). He incorporated every detail
of the photograph and allowed himself no interpretative freedom. Working from photographs
enabled him to realize the variations in focus due to changing depth of field, something
impossible when working from life. He continued in the black-and-white style until 1970, when he
began to use colour again. With a similarly limited range of model photographs, he experimented
with various types of colour marking. The pencil and ink Robert/104,072 (19734; New York,
MOMA), for example, is made from 104,072 separate colour squares. Other techniques included
the use of fingerprint marks and pulp paper fragments. This concern with modes of
representation links him to conceptual art as well as, more obviously, to Photorealism. For the
colour paintings such as Linda (19756; Akron, OH, A. Mus.) he used acrylic, ink and
watercolour among other media, and built the works up using only cyan, magenta and yellow,
thus imitating mechanical reproduction techniques. Close also made occasional prints, such as
the mezzotint Keith/Mezzotint (1972; see Lyons and Storr, p. 162). In the 1980s he worked with
handmade papers and also produced images pieced together from huge polaroid photographs,
such as Bertrand II (1984; artists col., see Lyons and Storr, pp. 1567).
- Big Nude, 1967
acrylic on gessoedcanvas
297.2x643.9cm
- Big Self-Portrait, 19671968
acrylic on gessoedcanvas
273.1x 212.1cm
-Phil, 1969
acrylic on gessoed canvas
274.3x 213.4cm
-Kent, 1970-1971
acrylic on gessoed canvas
254x 228.6cm
-Susan, 1971
acrylic on gessoed canvas
255.3x 228.6cm
-John, 1971-1972
acrylic on gessoed canvas
254x 228.6cm
-Robert/104,072, 1973-1974
acrylic, ink, andpencil on gessoed canvas
274.3x 213.4cm
- Linda, 1975-1976
acrylic on gessoed canvas
274.3x 213.4cm
- Linda/Pastel, 1977
pastel on watercolor-washed paper
sheet: 76.2x 57.2cm
- Mark, 1978-1979
acrylic on gessoed canvas
274.3x 213.4cm
-Leslie/Pastel, 1977
pastel and watercolor on paper
sheet: 76.1x 55.9cm
-Drawing for Phil/Rubberstamp, 1976
ink on paper
19.4x 16.5cm
- Phil Fingerprint/Random, 1979
stamp-pad ink on paper
101.6x 66cm
- Phil, 1980
ink and pencil on paper
74.9x 57.2cm
- Self-Portrait/Conte Crayon, 1979
conte crayon and pencil on paper
74.9x 55.9cm
- Self-Portrait, 1980
Photograph
Polaroid print made with large-format camera
Sheet: 221.5 x 112.4 cm
Chuck Close
Self-Portrait, 1980
Sheet: 221.5 x 112.4 cm
Framed: 230.2 x 121.3 x 6.4 cm
Photograph, Polaroid print made
with large-format camera
-Stanley (Large Version), 198081
oil on canvas
256.5x 213.4cm
- Georgia/Collage, 1982
paper pulp collage on canvas
121.9x 96.5cm
-Leslie/Watercolor II, 1986
watercolor on paper
sheet: 77.5x 56.5cm
- Laura I, 1984
Polaroid Polacolor II photographs
215.9x 528.3cm
-Self-Portrait, 1987
oil on canvas
182.9x 152.4cm
- Janet, 1989
oil on canvas
91.4x 76.2cm
- Georgia, 1996
oil on canvas
76.2x 61cm
- Self-Portrait, 1997
oil on canvas
259.1x 213.4cm
- Lucas/Woodcut, 1993
woodcut with pochoir
118.1x 91.4cm, edition of 50
- Lyle, 2000
8-color softground etching
46.4x 38.7cm
- James, 2001
daguerrotype
21.6x 16.5cm