Museum Paper

The piece I have chosen is an oil painting by Chuck Close entitled Robert, made in 1997. I observed it at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). The painting, which measures an enormous 102 by 84 inches, is a straightforward portrait of one of Close’s friends and fellow (pop) artists Robert Rauschenberg, although its dazzling style and ingenious execution are anything but straightforward. The subject matter is typical of Chuck Close: a large, frontal view …

…nagging at them for not coming up with something as ingenious. I believe that is what art at its best should be – an arresting, involving experience that holds you in one spot (relatively speaking) and simply makes you stare and think. Art can say an infinite amount of things to any given person, but as long as that person is compelled to let that silent conversation take place, then art has succeeded in its goal.