The American Chuck Close is one of the pioneers of photorealism. This art movement, which became popular in the late Sixties, used photography as the basis to create hyperrealistic images in other media, including painting and graphic media. Close became known for his larger than life portraits and self-portraits created using the most diverse techniques. In each case he began dividing up the photograph by means of a grid, which served as the starting point. He subsequently reproduced an enlarged format of the image square by square on the canvas. The grid gradually disappeared over the course of the creative process. The resulting portraits are 'more than realistic' and virtually indistinguishable from photographic portraits.
