Coca-Cola Girl 1
Alex KatzCoca-Cola Girl 12019
2019
About the Item
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.
- Truly RudyBy George RodrigueLocated in Saugatuck, MIGeorge Rodrigue's iconic "Blue Dog" becomes "Truly Rudy" the red-nosed reindeer for the holidays. Hand-signed and numbered limited edition screen-print fram...Category
Early 2000s Pop Art Animal Prints
MaterialsScreen
$2,956 Sale Price20% Off - Tilt (from The American Dream Portfolio)By Robert IndianaLocated in Saugatuck, MITilt, from the American Dream Portfolio printed in 1997 is a limited edition hand signed and numbered screen print based on the original painting, "The American Dream" which he paint...Category
Late 20th Century Pop Art Prints and Multiples
MaterialsScreen
$2,389 Sale Price34% Off - Mirror #6 (from Mirror Series), 1972By Roy LichtensteinLocated in Saugatuck, MIA very rare Roy Lichtenstein limited edition artist proof hand-signed and numbered linocut and screen print inscribed "To Leo" as in Leo Castelli. The work was later purchased by Ge...Category
1970s Pop Art Interior Prints
MaterialsLinocut, Screen
$51,919 Sale Price34% Off - LOVE: Quiet, The Dove (From The Book of Love Portfolio)By Robert IndianaLocated in Saugatuck, MIRobert Indiana screen print with letterpress and embossing, pencil signed and numbered by the artist. In 1996 when Robert Indiana created The Book of Love Portfolio, he chose to inse...Category
1990s Pop Art Prints and Multiples
MaterialsScreen
$1,756 Sale Price40% Off - LOVE: Enflame (From The Book of Love Portfolio)By Robert IndianaLocated in Saugatuck, MIRobert Indiana screen print with letterpress and embossing, pencil signed and numbered by the artist. In 1996 when Robert Indiana created The Book of Love Portfolio, he chose to inse...Category
1990s Pop Art Prints and Multiples
MaterialsScreen
$1,756 Sale Price40% Off - Bill Schenck, "Days Of August" Serigraph, 20/83, 1987By Billy SchenckLocated in Los Angeles, CABill Schenck Days Of August Serigraph 20/83 1987 Hand signed, date and numbered by Schenck in pencil. 29.50 inches H. x 38.50 inches W. A classic, stunning early example of the iconography of the artist Bill Schenck's 'Pop Western' work. Schenck is of the originators of the contemporary 'Pop' Western Art...Category
Late 20th Century Pop Art Landscape Prints
MaterialsScreen