Alex Katz, Self-Portrait (Passing)
View Similar Items
Alex KatzAlex Katz, Self-Portrait (Passing)
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.
- Dr. Seuss, Tower of BabelBy (after) Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel)Located in Miami, FLTower of Babel Screenprint on Archival Panel - Limited Edition of 475 Arabic Numbers Authorized Estate Edition 36.25” x 24.25” paper Ready to hang Adap...Category
1990s More Prints
MaterialsScreen
Price Upon Request - Dr. Seuss, Sam I Am - DiptychBy (after) Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel)Located in Miami, FLAdapted posthumously from an early concept drawing and the final illustration for the 1960 book, Green Eggs and Ham. Green Eggs and Ham was born out of a $50 wager between Dr. Seuss...Category
2010s Modern More Prints
MaterialsColor
Price Upon Request - Wisdom of the Orient Cat (Deluxe edition)By Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel)Located in Miami, FLDr. Seuss Wisdom of the Orient Cat (Deluxe edition)Serigraph on Hand-made Japanese Paper Deluxe Edition of 250 Image Size: 58" x 29" Paper Size: 62” x 31” Adapted posthumously from ...Category
1960s Animal Prints
MaterialsHandmade Paper
- Dr. Seuss, Grinch at Mount CrumpitBy (after) Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel)Located in Miami, FLDr. Seuss Grinch at Mount Crumpit (50th Anniversary of How the Grinch Stole Christmas) Serigraph on Rag Paper 61 x 32 inches Adapted posthumously from the illustration for the 1957...Category
2010s Animal Prints
MaterialsColor
Price Upon Request - Dr. Seuss, They've All Gone To Bed in the Beds of Their ChoicesBy (after) Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel)Located in Miami, FL(after) Dr. Seuss They've All Gone To Bed In the Beds of Their Choices Lithograph on paper 18 x 22 inches Framed, Ready to hang Adapted posthumously from the illustration for the 19...Category
2010s Contemporary More Prints
MaterialsColor
- Dr. Seuss, Kangaroo BirdBy (after) Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel)Located in Miami, FLafter Dr. Seuss Kangaroo Bird Hand painted cast resin sculpture 22.5 x 9.5 x 17.5 inches Ready to hang Adapted posthumously from the original 1930s plaster, beak, and oil on wood mount sculpture. Dr. Seuss’s original...Category
2010s Contemporary More Prints
MaterialsResin
Price Upon Request
- “The Missing Suitors” by SHAG aka Josh AgleBy Josh AgleLocated in Hudson, NYThe Missing Suitors is a limited edition 13 color hand-pulled Serigraph by artist Josh Agle aka SHAG. Hand signed and numbered 214/300 by the artist. Comes with a Certificate of authenticity (C.O.A.). Shag is an American born painter, designer and illustrator working in Southern California. His distinctive artistic style draws from commercial illustration and has an attitude and sly sense of humor which is unmistakably of our time. His paintings celebrate consumerism and consumption on vividly colored sharply rendered panels; the characters drink, smoke and eat in lavish, stylish surroundings. Shag's work is categorized as lowbrow art...Category
Early 2000s Pop Art Interior Prints
MaterialsScreen
$1,012 Sale Price25% Off - The souper dressBy Andy WarholLocated in Jerusalem, ILA wonderful piece of unknown edition by Andy Warhol. A silkscreen print on a Cellulose and Cotton dress. Fearing the artist's trade mark Campbell's soup can. In very good condition.Category
1960s Pop Art Figurative Prints
MaterialsTextile, Screen
- Saint Apollonia - Portfolio of four screen-printsBy Andy WarholLocated in Tallinn, EESaint Apollonia - Portfolio of four screen-prints 1984, each signed Andy Warhol Numbered 248/250. 4 colored screen-prints on Essex offset kid finish paper, 76.2 x 55.9 cm, Printed...Category
1980s Pop Art Figurative Prints
MaterialsScreen
Price Upon Request - Still Life with LobsterBy Roy LichtensteinLocated in Tallinn, EE”Still Life with Lobster”. Signed, dated and numbered rf Lichtenstein ’74 2/100. Lithograph and screenprint in colours, I. 81.7 x 78.8 cm, S....Category
1970s Pop Art Figurative Prints
MaterialsScreen, Lithograph
Price Upon Request - Marcel Duchamp's World Tour - DC Thomson Reunion at the Tower Ballroom BlackpoolBy Peter BlakeLocated in Norwich, GBHeralded as the ‘Godfather of Pop Art’, Sir Peter Blake was knighted in 2002 for his invaluable contribution to contemporary art. Blake began his career creating collages from photographs, cigarette packets and matchboxes. This new approach to the creation of visual art – taking found imagery from Pop culture – was spearheaded in Britain by Blake and continues to inspire contemporary artists today. Best known for creating the iconic cover to the Beatles’ 1967...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Figurative Prints
MaterialsScreen
- American Trilogy, Elvis, Black and Silver GlossBy Peter BlakeLocated in Norwich, GBLimited edition of 150. Three American icons: the stars and stripes, Elvis Presley and Coca Cola are combined to create American Trilogy, a classic pop art image by Sir Peter Blake.A...Category
20th Century Pop Art Figurative Prints
MaterialsGiclée, Archival Pigment, Screen