Boy with Branch I
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Alex KatzBoy with Branch I1975
1975
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.
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- Bullfighter (Torero), copper aquatint plate from 1949 CarmenBy Pablo PicassoLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Pablo Picasso Title: Bullfighter (Torero) Portfolio: Carmen Medium: Copper aquatint plate with cancellation marks Date: 1949 Edition: One of a kind Frame Size: 20 3/4" x 17" ...Category
1940s Modern Portrait Prints
MaterialsCopper
- In Profile (de Profil), copper aquatint plate from 1949 CarmenBy Pablo PicassoLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Pablo Picasso Title: In Profile (de Profil) Portfolio: Carmen Medium: Copper aquatint plate with cancellation marks Date: 1949 Edition: One of a kind Frame Size: 20 3/4" x 17...Category
1940s Modern Portrait Prints
MaterialsCopper
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1950s Animal Prints
MaterialsAquatint
- Square Head of a Woman with Full Lips, from 1949 CarmenBy Pablo PicassoLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Pablo Picasso Medium: Etching on Montval wove paper Title: Square Head of a Woman with Full Lips Portfolio: Carmen Year: 1949 Edition Size: 289 Framed Size: 18 3/4" x 16 3/4"...Category
1940s Portrait Prints
MaterialsEtching
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1940s Cubist Portrait Prints
MaterialsEtching
- Square Head of a Woman PoutingBy Pablo PicassoLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Pablo Picasso Title: Square Head of a Woman Pouting Portfolio: Carmen Medium: Etching on Montval wove paper Year: 1949 Edition: 289 Frame Size: 18" x 16" Sheet Size: 13" x 10...Category
1940s Portrait Prints
MaterialsEtching
- Guggenheim (Black)By Richard HamiltonLocated in London, GBPerspex form, vacuum formed acrylic and spray painted black, 1970, signed and dated verso, from the edition of 106, although an edition of 750 was planned it was not fully executed, published by xartcollection, Zurich, 59 x 59 x 9.8 cm. (23.2 x 23.2 x 3.9 in.) In 1970 British-Pop artist Richard Hamilton was invited to produce an edition of 750 small-scale multiples of the Guggenheim. The intention was to produce vacuum-form reliefs in Perspex and offset the costs of expensive molds by creating a large edition. In the end, the project proved more technically difficult than anticipated. Of the three colours (black, white and chrome), only a total of 271 were realised, 117 in white. The xartcollection was created in 1968 in Zurich, Switzerland by Sandro Bocola...Category
1970s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsEtching, Aquatint
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Early 2000s Contemporary Landscape Prints
MaterialsEtching, Aquatint
- Madison and 50th (GE building on left, Waldorf Astoria and East River)By Martin LevineLocated in New Orleans, LAThe inspiration for the piece comes from the beautiful New York Magazine logo. Madison and Fifth is a artist's proof from an edition of 120. The piece was commissioned by the Madis...Category
2010s American Modern Landscape Prints
MaterialsEtching, Aquatint
- Waiting For My Train(track crossings that create Chicago EL / Merchandise Mart)By Martin LevineLocated in New Orleans, LAWaiting for my Train is #55 from edition of 100. "Waiting for my train" is the stop right before the tracks cross, and create Chicago's famous "Loop", on the above ground EL. The M...Category
1980s American Modern Landscape Prints
MaterialsEtching, Aquatint
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Early 19th Century Portrait Prints
MaterialsEtching
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1790s Landscape Prints
MaterialsEngraving, Etching