Lake Wesserunset II (White Sun)
View Similar Items
Alex KatzLake Wesserunset II (White Sun)1972
1972
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 opened a major retrospective of his art.
Find Alex Katz art today on 1stDibs.
- UntitledBy Natvar BhavsarLocated in New York, NYUntitled, 1968 Sreenprint 21 1/2 x 21 1/2 inches Edition of 20 Biography Natvar Bhavsar (b. 1934) is an Indian born American artist. He is known for his abstract expressionist and color field paintings. Bhavsar earned is MFA at the University of Pennsylvania School...Category
1960s Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsScreen
Price Upon Request - The Desire for Lunch is a Bourgeois Obsessional Neurosis or Grey SchizoidsBy Ronald Brooks KitajLocated in New York, NY12 color screenprint, photo-screenprint on buff Hodomuragami paper edition of 70Category
1960s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsScreen
- ChaturaBy Natvar BhavsarLocated in New York, NYUntitled, 1968 Sreenprint 21 1/2 x 21 1/2 inches Edition of 20 Biography Natvar Bhavsar (b. 1934) is an Indian born American artist. He is known for his abstract expressionist and color field paintings. Bhavsar earned is MFA at the University of Pennsylvania School...Category
1960s Abstract Prints
MaterialsScreen
Price Upon Request - Watertower IIBy Allan D'Arcangelo 1Located in New York, NYScreenprint Edition of 50Category
1970s Abstract Geometric Prints and Multiples
MaterialsScreen
Price Upon Request - The Flood of LaymenBy Ronald Brooks KitajLocated in New York, NYscreenprint, edition of 70Category
1960s Pop Art More Prints
MaterialsScreen
Price Upon Request - Watertower IVBy Allan D'Arcangelo 1Located in New York, NYScreenprint Edition of 50Category
1970s Prints and Multiples
MaterialsScreen
Price Upon Request
- Untitled (Calvesi 46)By Alberto BurriLocated in New York, NY1973-1976 Screenprint in colors, on wove paper 16 3/4 x 13 5/8 in. (42.5 x 34.6 cm) Edition of 90 Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, lower marginCategory
1970s Color-Field Abstract Prints
MaterialsPaper, Screen
Price Upon Request - Sweet Dreams Baby!, from 11 Pop Artists Volume III (C. 39)By Roy LichtensteinLocated in New York, NY1965 Screenprint in colors, on wove paper 37 5/8 x 27 5/8 in. (95.6 x 70.2 cm) Edition of 200 Signed and numbered in pencil, lower margin Framed, excellent conditionCategory
1960s Pop Art Figurative Prints
MaterialsPaper, Screen
- Ups and DownsBy KAWSLocated in New York, NY2013 The complete set of 10 screenprints in colors, on Saunders Waterford High White paper 35 x 23 inches, each Edition of 100 + 20AP All signed, dated and numbered in pencilCategory
2010s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsScreen
Price Upon Request - Pumpkin (2)By Yayoi KusamaLocated in New York, NY1990 Screenprint in colors, on Izumi paper Sheet: 63 x 53 cm Edition of 150 Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in pencil, lower margin Framed, excellent conditionCategory
1990s Pop Art Figurative Prints
MaterialsPaper, Screen
Price Upon Request - Pop Shop II: one plate (L. pp. 96-97)By Keith HaringLocated in New York, NY1988 Screenprint in colors, on wove paper, with full margins 12 x 15 in. (30.5 x 38.1 cm) Edition of 200, HC Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, recto FramedCategory
1980s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsPaper, Screen
Price Upon Request - Coffee CupBy Yayoi KusamaLocated in New York, NY1985 Screenprint in colors, on Izumi paper Sheet: 61 x 53.3 cm Edition of 100 Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in pencil, lower margin Framed, excellent conditionCategory
1980s Pop Art Figurative Prints
MaterialsPaper, Screen
Price Upon Request