Is there a better definition of art than the effort, the ache, to explain one’s inner experience and be understood?… I was starting out as a painter, and [Chuck Close] supported and encouraged me. He bought me my first proper oil paint — the exact brands and colors he used (particular brands for particular colors) — and taught me to set up my palette just like his. He showed me how to mix beautiful blacks without using black. He instructed me to treat every area of the canvas equally, not to paint the hair differently from the skin just because it was hair, not to paint the background with less attention than to the subject, to erase hierarchy.

(Ali Silverstein, “I Once Loved Chuck Close. That’s Why I Want to Tell My Story,” NYTimes, 12-27-21)

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