Alex KatzHalsey (12/12)2023
2023
About the Item
- Creator:Alex Katz (1927, American)
- Creation Year:2023
- Dimensions:Height: 120 in (304.8 cm)Width: 36 in (91.44 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU574314144552
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Sunrise 1By Alex KatzLocated in Fort Lauderdale, FLAlex Katz was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1927. In 1928, at the outset of the Depression, his family moved to St. Albans, a diverse suburb of Queens that had sprung up between the ...Category
2010s Contemporary Prints and Multiples
MaterialsLinocut
- Nicole (12/12)By Alex KatzLocated in Fort Lauderdale, FLAlex Katz was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1927. In 1928, at the outset of the Depression, his family moved to St. Albans, a diverse suburb of Queens that had sprung up between the ...Category
2010s Contemporary Prints and Multiples
MaterialsLinocut
- OVERUNDER Portfolio of 5By David SalleLocated in Fort Lauderdale, FLDavid Salle OVERUNDER Portfolio of 5, 2021, (15/20) Archival pigment ink print, hand varnished 42 x 42 inCategory
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary More Art
MaterialsCotton, Archival Ink, Etching, Archival Pigment
- Ada 7 - From the Ada PortfolioBy Alex KatzLocated in Fort Lauderdale, FLAlex Katz (b. 1927) Ada 7 — From the ADA Portfolio, 2022, (/100) Silkscreen in colors on Saunders Waterford High White HP 425 gsm paper 54 x 40.50 in (137.16 x 102.87 cm)Category
2010s Contemporary Portrait Prints
MaterialsScreen
- Yellow Flags on Brown (41/150)By Alex KatzLocated in Fort Lauderdale, FLAlex Katz was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1927. In 1928, at the outset of the Depression, his family moved to St. Albans, a diverse suburb of Queens that had sprung up between the ...Category
2010s Contemporary Prints and Multiples
MaterialsCotton, Archival Ink, Archival Pigment
- Banksy ThrowerBy Mr. BrainwashLocated in Fort Lauderdale, FLMr. Brainwash is the moniker of eccentric French filmmaker turned street artist, Thierry Guetta. After years filming his cousin Space Invader, Banksy and Shepard Fairey, he put down ...Category
2010s Contemporary Prints and Multiples
MaterialsMixed Media
- Wingcarrier-IILocated in Crested Butte, COCollagraph with Monoprint technique. Each print is one-of-a-kind.Category
2010s Contemporary Abstract Prints
MaterialsInk, Archival Paper, Linocut, Monoprint
- Paris la nuitLocated in PARIS, FRIt is certainly the most appropriate translation of Pascale Hémery’s work, which takes a look at the places visited on a daily basis and during her travels abroad. This look is the...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Landscape Prints
MaterialsLinocut
- Le pont des arts et l'institutLocated in PARIS, FRIt is certainly the most appropriate translation of Pascale Hémery’s work, which takes a look at the places visited on a daily basis and during her travels abroad. This look is the...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Landscape Prints
MaterialsLinocut
- L'échappée belleLocated in PARIS, FRIt is certainly the most appropriate translation of Pascale Hémery’s work, which takes a look at the places visited on a daily basis and during her travels abroad. This look is the...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Landscape Prints
MaterialsEngraving, Linocut
- Baile átha cliath - DublinLocated in PARIS, FRIt is certainly the most appropriate translation of Pascale Hémery’s work, which takes a look at the places visited on a daily basis and during her travels abroad. This look is the s...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Landscape Prints
MaterialsLinocut
- Rue du LouvreLocated in PARIS, FRIt is certainly the most appropriate translation of Pascale Hémery’s work, which takes a look at the places visited on a daily basis and during her travels abroad. This look is the s...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Landscape Prints
MaterialsLinocut