Close’s first project at Crown Point Press was a massive-scale, labor-intensive mezzotint, an antiquated printmaking technique he had never attempted. In mezzotint, an artist roughens the plate’s surface so that it will print as a velvety black, then “draws” with a burnishing tool to smooth areas that will hold less ink and print lighter. Close squared up a 1970 photograph and incised a corresponding grid on the copperplate to facilitate enlargement and transfer.
Chuck Close, Keith, 1970–1972
Chuck Close burnishing the plate for Keith, 1972, photograph by Kathan Brown, Courtesy Crown Point Press
Proof impressions of Keith, 1972, photograph by Kathan Brown, Courtesy Crown Point Press
Because he had difficulty seeing his marks on the shiny metallic surface and because he was learning by trial and error, numerous proofs (see photograph at left) had to be pulled frequently to monitor progress. As a result, the center of the plate degraded and the grid became more visible. Close retained the grid as evidence of his process, a seminal choice for his subsequent work in all media. “After finishing Keith, I started doing [works] in which the incremental unit was visible and ultimately celebrated in a million different ways. That all came from making this print.”
Banner image: Detail, Chuck Close, John (proof for unpublished print), 1972, color photo-etching on wove paper, Gift of Kathan Brown © Chuck Close, Courtesy Pace Gallery
"Yes, No, Maybe: The Art of Making
Decisions," lecture by exhibition curators Judith Brodie and Adam Greenhalgh (audio)
Julie Mehretu, artist, in conversation with curator Judith Brodie, Diamonstein-Spielvogel lecture (audio)
"An Insider's Perspective," lecture by Kathan Brown, founder of Crown Point Press (audio)
Exhibition tour by curators Judith Brodie and Adam Greenhalgh (audio)