25 Chuck Close Quotes From the Renowned Artist

By Stephanie Kirby | Published August 15, 2023

Check out these Chuck Close quotes to learn more about the successful and well-known artist.

Charles “Chuck” Close was an American artist who was a skilled painter and photographer and was best known for his large-scale photorealist portraits.

He was born in Monroe, Washington, in 1940 and died in Oceanside, New York, in 2021 at the age of 81.

Close grew up with a condition that made it difficult to lift his feet and struggled in school due to dyslexia.

He learned that a way for him to excel was by painting large portraits based on photographs of family and friends.

After attending college at the University of Washington, he attended Yale University for his Master’s degree in Music and Art.

Take a look at these Chuck Close quotes to learn more about the famous artist.

Top 10 Chuck Close Quotes

Enjoy some of the top quotes from Chuck Close.

1. “Art saved my life.” — Chuck Close

2. “A face is a roadmap of someone’s life.” — Chuck Close

3. “Every child should have a chance to feel special.” — Chuck Close

4. “Painting is the frozen evidence of a performance.” — Chuck Close

5. “Far more interesting than problem-solving is problem creation.” — Chuck Close

6. “Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive.” — Chuck Close

7. “I’m very learning-disabled, and I think it drove me to what I’m doing.” — Chuck Close

8. “Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work.” — Chuck Close

9. “Ease is the enemy of the artist. When things get too easy, you’re in trouble.” — Chuck Close

10. “There are so many artists that are dyslexic or learning disabled; it’s just phenomenal.” — Chuck Close

Chuck Close Quotes About Art

Learn more about Chuck Close’s thoughts on art.

11. “All the fingerprint paintings are done without a grid.” — Chuck Close

12. “It’s always a pleasure to talk about someone else’s work.” — Chuck Close

13. “I only have so much time and energy and money, and I’m going to put it into my work.” — Chuck Close

14. “You don’t have to have a great art idea—just get to work, and something will happen.” — Chuck Close

15. “I think the problem with the arts in America is how unimportant it seems to be in our education system.” — Chuck Close

16. “If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightening to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work.” — Chuck Close

17. “I like wrinkles and crow’s feet and flaws, and somebody should know, if I’m going to photograph them, that’s going to show up, you know?” — Chuck Close

18. “Part of the joy of looking at art is getting in sync in some ways with the decision-making process that the artist used and the record that’s embedded in the work.” — Chuck Close

Inspirational Chuck Close Quotes

Find inspiration and motivation in the following quotes from the artist.

19. “A quilt may take a year, but if you just keep doing it, you get a quilt.” — Chuck Close

20. “Never let anyone define what you are capable of by using parameters that don’t apply to you.” — Chuck Close

21. “If you are by nature an optimistic person, which I am, that puts you in a better position to be lucky in life.” — Chuck Close

22. “The worst possible thing in the world can happen to you, and you will overcome it. You will be happy again.” — Chuck Close

23. “In life, you can be dealt a winning hand of cards, and you can find a way to lose, and you can be dealt a losing hand and find a way to win.” — Chuck Close

24. “You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every day. Today you will do what you did yesterday, and tomorrow you will do what you did today.” — Chuck Close

25. “Most people are good at too many things. And when you say someone is focused, more often than not, what you actually mean is they’re very narrow.” — Chuck Close