Chuck Close, photographer known for photorealist portraits, dead at 81
artist and photographer known for his large-scale photorealist portraits, has died at the age of 81.Close’s lawyer, John Silberman, announced on Thursday that he had passed away in a hospital in Oceanside, New York.The artist made a name for himself for his oversized paintings of himself and people he knew during the 1970s and 80s, beginning with his first and most famous self-portrait, a black and white image of himself with disheveled hair and a cigarette in his mouth.He created the hyperreal paintings using his signature technique of an airbrush and diluted black paint.Close was followed by sexual harassment allegations from women who had modeled for him that came to light around 2017.He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2013, and his