Snapshots of the Past

Self portrait – Historic Photo Reproduction

Self portrait, 1977 — historic print
Self portrait, 1977. Historic print from the Historic Print Archive collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Self portrait comes to life in this historic print, reproduced from the original with every detail intact. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

Choose the framed print, ready to hang the day it arrives, or the unframed print for a frame of your own. It makes a striking addition to a living room, study or office, and a thoughtful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

Self portrait

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Few artists have returned to their own face as often as Chuck Close, and this 1977 etching shows how that habit became a signature. Close typically worked from photographs, divided the image into a grid, and built each cell by hand, so a face emerges slowly from many small marks. The method outlasted a 1988 spinal collapse that left him paralyzed from the neck down, after which he kept painting with brushes strapped to his hand. In printmaking, the face's tonal shifts depend on how densely the lines are spaced on the plate.

Created / published1977
Medium1 print : etching.
NotesEtching by Chuck Close. This record contains unverified, old data from caption card. Caption card tracings: Self-portraits; BI; Artists works; Shelf.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,242 × 1,536 px · prints to 4 × 5 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-145746

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