When he returned to the United States in 1965 and began teaching painting and photography at the University of Massachusetts, he started turning away from his Abstract Expressionist roots. One wonders if this was a result of his exposure to the paintings of the great European masters. At first, he worked from found photographs, and by 1966 was making paintings based on photographs he had taken himself. Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota. His paintings of heads cannot be called portraits in the true sense of the word, for they are not really about the people he depicts.
Traditional portraiture tends to flatter the sitter in some way.
They are usually commissioned and owned by the subject. With few exceptions, however, Close's paintings are owned by museums and private art collectors. His renderings of warts, blackheads, and nose hairs can hardly be deemed flattering in the traditional sense. They are in fact rather unsettling. However, most of the people in these paintings are fellow artists, and their inclusion in his project is a testament to his respect for them and their own work.