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Men's Vogue: How did your portrait of Bill Clinton come about?

Chuck Close: I photographed him when he was president, for his reelection campaign. I got the National Medal of Arts from him, and I've been in the White House many times. So I knew him. At any rate, I was asked by New York magazine to photograph him for an article. I went to his Harlem office, and took the big Polaroid camera, and we shot him there. After that, I went to Ambassador Holbrooke's house for Hillary's birthday party, and I took along little snapshots to show to Clinton. I didn't want to do an unauthorized portrait, not that it's the official White House portrait: I didn't want to just use the image without his permission. When I told him I wanted to make a painting, he said fine. I asked him which one he liked best, and luckily he picked the same one I did. I don't know what I would have done if he'd picked a different one. Then I made the painting.

MV: Was this a commission?

CC: Not really. I knew that there was someone who wanted to have a painting of Clinton and to give it to the National Gallery. It was purchased by him, I think you could call it a gift to the nation. He wanted to give it to the country, to its national gallery, which I think is nice.

MV: I know that you've always resisted doing commissions.

CC: What I told him was, I would make the painting. If I was happy with it and I wanted to sell it, I would call him. But I never wanted to work for a living, and if it's a commission, it's like I'm working for somebody else and it's not my painting. I just never like to feel that way. Even though I know that there are people on a waiting list, waiting for a painting of mine, I don't think of it as going to them. I think of it as my painting. Eventually, it leaves the studio and the gallery contacts whoever was on the waiting list. But I tend not to know, and don't want to know who's waiting for a painting. It just makes it a lot more fun. I'm just making the paintings I want to make and then they go away and money comes in, and there doesn't seem to be much connection between the two.

MV: Is there a question somewhere in here about who gets to be portraitized by Chuck Close? How do you choose…?

CC: I photograph many more people than I actually paint. I say many are called, but few are chosen. The reason is, I'm not going to spend four months on a painting unless it's something that I want to make. How compelling the image is and how much urgency that has for me is important. There are also formal issues like, Is it going to be interesting to make a painting from this photograph? One photograph always floats to the surface and the others sink. I'm often surprised by which one I feel needs to be painted. It's often not the person that I most wanted to paint. It's more, "Oh, this would be great to make a painting from this photograph." I'm plagued with indecision. But when it comes to picking an image to paint, I never have a problem deciding which one to do.