Artist Chuck Close paints faces, but can't recognize them

Faces have captivated artists forever, so it may surprise you to learn that renowned portraitist Chuck Close is face blind, and severely so. Close told Lesley Stahl that he could have dinner with a person one night, and not recognize their face the next day.

To learn more about the condition, watch Lesley Stahl's two-part report, "Face Blindness"

Chuck Close Working on John, 1992, Photo by Bill Jacobson. (c) Chuck Close, courtesy The Pace Gallery

Close works from a photograph with a grid on it, and translates what he sees -- square by square -- onto his canvas.

John Macquette, 1992, Polaroid/Color mounted on foamcore, masking tape and ink. (c) Chuck Close, courtesy The Pace Gallery

Artist Chuck Close told Lesley Stahl that he paints portraits "to take images of people that matter to me and commit them to memory in the best way I can, which is to slow the whole process down, break it down into lots of little memorable pieces."

Susan, 1971. Acrylic on Canvas. (c) Chuck Close, courtesy The Pace Gallery

Face blindness, or prosopagnosia, can make it nearly impossible for people who have the condition to recognize or identify faces.

To learn more about the condition, watch Lesley Stahl's two-part report, "Face Blindness"

April, 1990-91, Oil on Canvas. (c) Chuck Close, courtesy The Pace Gallery