Philip Glass

Over the course of a 40-year long friendship, Chuck Close has created numerous portraits of the composer Philip Glass. Most of the works are based on the same 1968 photograph of Glass, which Close says he has used “150 times or something,” executed in a variety of print techniques, including lithography, engraving, screenprint, and etching. This repeated engagement with the same photograph, an image Close is deeply familiar with, enables him to experiment with different stylistic techniques. Using his signature grid format, Close has depicted Glass through crosshatching, abstract patches of color, and even his own fingerprints. In 2005, Glass returned the favor to his longtime friend, with the premiere of a piano piece titled A Musical Portrait of Chuck Close.