Alex KatzRed Sails, from Small Cuts
About the Item
- Creator:Alex Katz (1927, American)
- Condition:Excellent.
- Gallery Location:Santa Monica, CA
- Reference Number:Seller: KAT028A1stDibs: G14030648787
Alex Katz
Flat color and minimal forms contrast the often monumental scales of the paintings by Alex Katz through which he creates portraits and landscapes of deceptive simplicity. Although the signature stark style that defines his prints and other work is now recognizable at a glance, it took him a decade to develop. During that time, he has said he destroyed hundreds of paintings.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, to Russian émigré parents, Katz’s family moved to Queens when he was a baby and that is where his family’s passion for the arts supported his early creative interests. In 1946, he enrolled at the Cooper Union in Manhattan where he studied painting under Morris Kantor. While he was influenced by the bold colors and hard edges of modernism, he shifted away from the then-dominant Abstract Expressionism movement to figurative scenes of life that have an inherent cool in their pared-down approach. Especially impactful were Katz’s summer studies between 1949 and 1950 at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, a place where, as he later wrote: “I tried plein air painting and found my subject matter and a reason to devote my life to painting.”
Katz’s first solo show was in 1954 at Roko Gallery in New York. He experimented over the course of the following years with collage and painting on aluminum sheets, with his work in the 1960s drawing inspiration from film and advertising. In the 1970s, Katz expanded into portrait groups that regularly depicted the cultural scene of New York; in the 1980s, he extended his focus to fashion and its supermodels. Since the late 1950s, an enduring muse for his portraits has been his wife, Ada, while others have painted friends and famous figures. The intimate closeness of the frequently cropped faces in Katz’s portraits exudes a sense of tension with the subjects’ enigmatic expressions and planes of color.
In the 1960s, Katz collaborated with American dancer and choreographer Paul Taylor on sets and costumes. His concentration on landscapes emerged in the late 1980s, with atmospheric night views joining his practice, which had previously been defined by bright colors. Always finding new perspectives on his work, he has explored using iPhone photographs as the basis for large-scale compositions in recent years.
Katz’s prolific career has spanned sculpture, prints and public art along with his paintings and drawings, and his works can be found in the collections of leading museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art and Museum of Modern Art. He has had over 250 solo exhibitions around the world and continues to be acclaimed. In 2022, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum plans to open a major retrospective of his art.
Find Alex Katz art today on 1stDibs.
- Water Reflection of Fish Under Water, Pool Monotype Cyanotype in Blue TonesBy Kind of CyanLocated in Barcelona, ESThis is an exclusive handprinted unique cyanotype that takes its inspiration from the mid-century modern shapes. It's made by layering paper cutouts and different exposures using uv-...Category
2010s Abstract Impressionist Abstract Prints
MaterialsPhotographic Film, Emulsion, Printer's Ink, Watercolor, Photographic Pap...
- M17-Figurative, Street art, Pop art, Modern, Contemporary, Abstract Mickey MouseBy Francisco NicolásLocated in London, LondonMeeting by friends II. 2019 Edition of 25 Digital pigment print Ultrachrome ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper. Hand signed by the artist, and certificate of authenticity, (Unframed)...Category
2010s Pop Art Figurative Prints
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- ST1As75-Contemporary , Abstract, Gestual, Street art, Pop art, Modern, GeometricBy Francisco NicolásLocated in London, LondonVoluptuosidad 11, 2019 Edition of 25 Digital pigment print Ultrachrome ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper. Hand signed by the artist, and certificate of authenticity, (Unframed) His ...Category
2010s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- Lov 3 - Contemporary, Abstract, Pop art, Surrealist, geometric, landscapeBy Francisco NicolásLocated in London, LondonCasa de Dios, 2011 Digital pigment print Ultrachrome ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper. Hand signed by the artist, and certificate of authenticity. (Unframed) His work has been show...Category
2010s Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- UntitledBy Claude TousignantLocated in Montreal, QuebecClaude Tousignant is one of those very few artists whose lives have been dedicated exclusively to their art. At school, the only classes that interested him were drawing and geometry...Category
2010s Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsDigital
- "The Neighbors" by Gary Barsumian. New York Graphic Society, 1979.Located in Clinton Township, MIPublished By New York Graphic Society, 1979 Plate signed In Good Condition Measures 23 in x 37 inCategory
20th Century Landscape Prints
MaterialsLithograph