Part 1 of Essay
Born in Monroe, Washington, in 1940, Close studied painting at Yale University before moving to New York in 1967. Although he greatly admired Abstract Expressionist painters such as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and, especially, Willem de Kooning, he wrote, "They nailed it down so wellthat I couldn't do anything but weak im ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... make abstract pictures. Linda is a very realistic piece made with acrylic and pencil on canvas. Close drew it exactly as a photo very clear around the face, eyes, nose, and mouth. However the outside of the hair, the cheek, the neck and below are all blurred. Just as in a photo. Linda is a middle age woman with brown curly hair and lots of make up. There are very thin lines everywhere in no specific direction, lots used under the eyes. Color is used a lot, there's red to show the make-up, white to show glare, blue ....