4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2016.

Phil III

Artist Chuck Close (American, 1940 - 2021)

CultureAmerican

Date1982

MediumHandmade paper of 24 different shades of grey

DimensionsOverall: 69 x 53 1/2 in. (175.3 x 135.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 71 x 55 in. (180.3 x 139.7 cm)

Credit LineGift of the artist and Pace Prints, and Museum purchase with funds provided by the Chrysler Contemporaries, Leah and Richard Waitzer, Mr. and Mrs. Arnold B. McKinnon, Mrs. George M. Kaufman, Mr. and Mrs. David J. Benjack, Mr. and Mrs. James E. Johnson, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm Branch, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Fine, Mr. and Mrs. Matthew D. Fine, David and Susan Goode, Mr. and Mrs. Harry T. Lester, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Light, The Honorable and Mrs. Everett A. Martin, Jr., and Dr. and Mrs. Robert Rubin

Object number2005.38

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, 310, ROW 77

DescriptionThe portrait is a cast paper multiple. The image was created using 24 shades of grey paper pulp poured into a numbered grid set on top of a sheet of handmade black paper. It is in an edition of fifteen prints made of the subject, Philip Glass.

Label TextChuck Close American, 1940-2021 Phil III, 1982 Handmade paper Artist Chuck Close created this paper version of his friend, composer Phillip Glass. As the title of the work suggests, this is not the first depiction Close made of Glass. The artist created earlier versions, including paintings. However, this version is unique because Close used more than twenty-four shades of gray, handmade paper to produce the portrait. The image is a re-articulation of a photograph Close took of Glass years before. The approach is similar to the latenineteenth-century pointillism style by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac (Gallery 217). As one gets closer to the work, the overall image disappears, making the technical details more apparent. Gift of the artist and Pace Prints, and Museum purchase with funds provided by the Chrysler Contemporaries, Leah and Richard Waitzer, Mr. and Mrs. Arnold B. McKinnon, Mrs. George M. Kaufman, Mr. and Mrs. David J. Benjack, Mr. and Mrs. James E. Johnson, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm Branch, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Fine, Mr. and Mrs. Matthew D. Fine, David and Susan Goode, Mr. and Mrs. Harry T. Lester, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Light, The Honorable and Mrs. Everett A. Martin, Jr., and Dr. and Mrs. Robert Rubin 2005.38ProvenancePace Prints, New York, NY; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, Gift of the Artist and Pace Prints, and Museum purchase with funds provided by the Chrysler Contemporaries, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Waitzer, Mr. and Mrs. Arnold McKinnon, Mrs. George Kaufman, Mr. and Mrs. David J. Benjack, Mr. and Mrs. James E. Johnson, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm Branch, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Fine, Mr. and Mrs. Matthew D. Fine, David and Susan Goode, Mr. and Mrs. Harry T. Lester, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Light, The Honorable and Mrs. Everett A. Martin, Jr., Dr. and Mrs. Robert Rubin, and the Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. Art Purchase Fund, 2005; Exhibition History"The Nexus," Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA, January 25 - April 28, 2013.Published ReferencesJeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 97, fig. 117. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1