Chuck Close

Artist Chuck Close's Portrait Project with AOL

Filed under: Events, Art

Wednesday night the rooftop space at New York's New Museum was utterly jam-packed with artists, tech-heads and creative types, including Kate Spade and model Doutzen Kroes, celebrating the 25th anniversary of AOL (Luxist's parent company). Famed artist Chuck Close was commissioned by AOL to create portraits of innovators from the last 25 years. The first phase of this "Project on Creativity" was on display in the rooftop space while model-worthy servers made the rounds with Champagne and truffle mac and cheese on Lucite trays.

Close's literally larger-than-life portraits focused on the faces of Claire Danes, the Dali Lama, inventor Dean Kaman, Close himself and others, all done in the artist's typical documentary style. (The trouble was catching a glimpse of them through the thick crowd.) The photographs (and others yet to be taken) will be used in a campaign for AOL's 25th anniversary year.

How did AOL ever get hooked up with the renowned artist whose work hangs in the MoMA and the collections of many other museums -- and how is Kate Spade involved?

Tags: aols 25th anniversary, bowery hotel, chuck close, dean kaman, new museum, new museum of contemporary art, project on creativity

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Nude Supermodels and More in Sotheby's Sale

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

On October 9th in New York, Sotheby's will stage a stunning sale of photographs including several nude portraits of supermodels, with work from the likes of Chuck Close, Peter Beard, Robert Mapplethorpe, Helmut Newton and more. One of the top lots is a series of six full frontal nudes of Kate Moss by Chuck Close taken in 2003, estimated at $100,000 - $150,000. Another high-priced draw is a portfolio of 12 semi-nude images of Marilyn Monroe taken in 1962 by Lawrence Schiller, estimated at $50,000 - $70,000. Two Peter Lindbergh portraits of Mick Jagger taken in 1995 are estimated at $30,000 - $50,000. And a nude of Stephanie Seymour by Richard Avedon taken in 1992 is estimated at $20,000 - $30,000, while this relatively tame image of Nadja Auermann by Irving Penn from 1994 is also a relative bargain at $6,000 - $9,000.

Tags: celebrity, Chuck Close, ChuckClose, Helmut Newton, HelmutNewton, Irving Penn, IrvingPenn, Kate Moss, KateMoss, Marilyn Monroe, MarilynMonroe, Mick Jagger, MickJagger, New York, NewYork, nude, Peter Beard, PeterBeard, photographs, photography, Richard Avedon, RichardAvedon, Sothebys, Stephanie Seymour, StephanieSeymour, supermodels

Kate Moss Nude for Every Occasion

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

On July 1 Christie's in London will auction off a stunning full frontal nude of Kate Moss by Chuck Close in its Photographs sale. Taken in 2003, the artwork is estimated at about $11,500 - $16,000 but could easily go much higher.

If that's out of your range or you don't want to risk being outbid, there's another option for getting Kate naked at your place. Via PhotographersLimitedEditions.com you can now purchase signed limited edition works from some of the world's best known photographers.

The investment-quality pieces come in limited editions of 11-25. One of our favorites is this nude of Moss by British photographer Rankin, taken in 2000. Produced in a limited edition of 25, the photo is priced at about $4,500.

The site also offers several of Rankin's other works including some celebrity portraits, as well as photos by the likes of Antoine Verglas, Arthur Elgort and Marc Baptiste, featuring many other gorgeous nudes.

Tags: Christies, Chuck Close, ChuckClose, Kate Moss, KateMoss, limited edition, LimitedEdition, nude, photography, Rankin, supermodels