2002
Chuck Close was renowned for his highly inventive techniques of painting the human face and was best known for his large-scale, photo-based portrait paintings.
After earning his MFA from Yale in 1964, Close took his place atop the American art world by creating large-scale, Photorealistic portraits that have creatively blurred the distinction between photography and painting. In 1988, Close was paralyzed following a rare spinal artery collapse; despite the physical limitations, the artist pressed forward with his work. With a brush taped to his wrist, he continued to paint.
In 2000, Close was presented with the prestigious National Medal of Arts by President Clinton and was appointed by President Obama to serve on the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.
"Yes, it is hard to paint blur," Close said. "There are some works I made by using a grid of string to help me perceive changes in depth of focus — something artists have done for centuries. The depth of field in the daguerreotypes is a function of the process of making an image that way, with a very short, very bright flash of light."
Although Close had employed various painterly styles throughout his career, he is perhaps best known for his grid set on the diagonal. Close’s paintings are all-over images where the background of the picture – the negative space – is as important as the face itself, and one cannot exist without the other.
Close often took his family and friends as models, making monumental and classical works that are bold in their simplicity. His work has been the subject of more than 200 solo exhibitions in more than 20 countries, including major retrospective exhibitions at New York's Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia de Madrid and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
(Biography provided by Weng Contemporary – ArtXX AG)
XII Festival int. de Musica de Cadaques by Joan Ponc 1983
Located in Winterswijk, NL
This impressive color lithograph by Joan Ponc was created in the context of the XII International Festival of Music in Cadaques in 1983. The renowned artist, born in Barcelona in 192...
Lithograph
$8,980
H 9.5 in W 11.5 in D 3.5 in
"Study from Nature Made in Montfaucon 1846" François Bonvin (1817-1888)
By François Bonvin
Located in SANTA FE, NM
Study from Nature Made in Montfaucon 1846 (Etude d'après Nature Faite à Montfaucon, 1846) François Bonvin (French, 1817-1887) Oil on canvas, original hand carved wood frame. Signed, dated and inscribed F. Bonvin 1846 a Montfaucon (ll); inscribed indistinctly Etude... F. Bonvin...montfaucon on the stretcher 6 3/8 x 8 5/8 (9 1/2 x 11 1/2 frame) inches Provenance: Ex Collection Auguste Péquégnot Paul Prouté André Watteau Charles Sadler Galerie Berès, Paris Exhibited: Paris, Galerie Beres, Francois Bonvin, Nov. 20, 1998 - Jan. 9, 1999 Literature: International Herald Tribune, Nov. 28-29, 1998, p. 9, illus. Bonvin's work has been compared with that of the eighteenth-century artist Chardin, whom Bonvin greatly admired, and from whose work he often borrowed particular motifs. Amongst the artists he personally encouraged were Théodule Ribot and Fantin-Latour. He was one of a group of artists who challenged the idea that still-life was a mode of artistic expression inferior to the lofty genre of history and religious painting. Bonvin championed the Realist conviction that everyday subject matter was the trues form of artistic expression. Bonvin was known for keen observation skills and great restraint. In his paintings, you can almost feel the moment between breaths as the subject matter is contemplated and then committed to canvas. This a superb, very personal and very quiet study of the village of Montfaucon on what appears to be an afternoon in the Argonne region in Northeastern France known its deep valleys and dense woodlands. François is one of the most interesting painters of the 19th century. Bonvin was born in humble circumstances in Paris and had a very difficult childhood. He was the son of a police officer and a seamstress; when he was four years old his mother died of tuberculosis. Young François was left in the care of an old woman who underfed him. Soon his father married another seamstress and brought the child back into the household. Nine additional children were born (one of whom was his half-brother, the painter Leon...
Oil, Canvas
$4,450
H 15 in W 11.88 in
“View of Gardanne, 1925" Louis Gautier (French, 1855-1947)
Located in SANTA FE, NM
“View of Gardanne, 1925" Louis Gautier (French, 1855-1947) Oil on cardboard Signed and dated 1925 lower left, Dedicated lower right: "à Monsieur Angeli, Bien cordially" Titled, dated...
Oil, Cardboard
$10,000
H 17.25 in W 16.25 in
Dog Portraits: "The Musicians" Charles Van den Eycken ((1859 - 1923)
By Charles H. Van den Eycken
Located in SANTA FE, NM
"The Musicians" Charles H. Van den Eycken (Belgium, 1859 - 1923) Oil on wood panel with highly ornate original wood, stucco and gilt frame. Signed upper right and dated "1893.' 10 1...
Mahogany, Oil, Wood Panel
$2,400
H 28 in W 20 in
Antique Dog Lithograph Taste of Alfred De Dreux, France ca. 1870 Saint Bernard A
By Alfred de Dreux
Located in SANTA FE, NM
Antique Dog Portrait Lithograph in the Taste of Alfred De Dreux Saint Bernard France, circa 1870 Lithography 25 5/8 x 19 5/8 (28 x 20 frame) inches Six lithographs of dog portrait...
Lithograph
$12,500
H 12 in W 17 in
"Big Ben in Garden" Portrait of a Bulldog by Arthur Wardle (England, 1864-1949)
By Arthur Wardle
Located in SANTA FE, NM
"Big Ben in Garden" Antique Dog Portrait of a Bulldog Arthur Wardle (England, 1864-1949) Pastel on paper Circa 1900 13 x 9 (17 x 12) inches Though he made his reputation with large...
Pastel
$2,800
H 28 in W 20 in
Antique Dog Lithograph Taste of Alfred De Dreux, France ca. 1870 Bulldog & Frog
By Alfred de Dreux
Located in SANTA FE, NM
Antique Dog Portrait Lithograph in the Taste of Alfred De Dreux Bulldog and Frog France, circa 1870 Lithography 25 5/8 x 19 5/8 (28 x 20 frame) inches Six lithographs of dog portr...
Lithograph
$2,400
H 28 in W 20 in
Antique Dog Lithograph Taste of Alfred De Dreux, France ca. 1870 Newfoundland
By Alfred de Dreux
Located in SANTA FE, NM
Antique Dog Portrait Lithograph in the Taste of Alfred De Dreux Newfoundland France, circa 1870 Lithography 25 5/8 x 19 5/8 (28 x 20 frame) inches Six lithographs of dog portraits...
Lithograph
$1,200
H 15 in W 20.5 in
Badges Of The Calvary Regiments Of The British Army Drawn For The Boys Own Paper
Located in Bristol, CT
Print Sz: 9 3/4"H x 15 1/4"W Frame Sz: 15"H x 20 1/2"W w/ 32 badges A colored fold-out plate illustrating the badges of British Army cavalry regiments was published in the Novembe...
Lithograph
A Yellow Rose, 1917. Painted on an Envelope
Located in Stockholm, SE
We are thrilled to present a watercolor by the Swedish artist Olle Hjortzberg. This small yet exquisite piece, painted in 1917, portrays a solitary yellow rose in vibrant, delicate s...
Watercolor
