Alex KatzOlympic Swimmer1976
1976
About the Item
- Creator:Alex Katz (1927, American)
- Creation Year:1976
- Dimensions:Height: 39.875 in (101.29 cm)Width: 25 in (63.5 cm)
- More Editions & Sizes:Edition of 200Price: $6,000
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU293210998602
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: New York, NY
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Ada Four Times #3By Alex KatzLocated in New York, NYAlex Katz Ada Four Times #3, 1979-80 silkscreen and lithograph, edition of 120 30 x 22 1/2 in. (76.2 x 57.2 cm)Category
1970s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Screen
- Ada Four Times #1By Alex KatzLocated in New York, NYAlex Katz Ada Four Times #1, 1979-80 silkscreen and lithograph, edition of 120 30 x 22 1/2 in. (76.2 x 57.2 cm)Category
1970s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsScreen, Lithograph
- Ada Four Times #2By Alex KatzLocated in New York, NYAlex Katz Ada Four Times #2, 1979-80 silkscreen and lithograph, edition of 120 30 x 22 1/2 in. (76.2 x 57.2 cmCategory
1970s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Screen
- Ada Four Times #4By Alex KatzLocated in New York, NYAlex Katz Ada Four Times, 1979-80 silkscreen and lithograph, edition of 120 30 x 22 1/2 in. (76.2 x 57.2 cm)Category
1970s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Screen
- 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
- Plate 3By Allen JonesLocated in New York, NYAllen Jones Plate 3, from the "Album" portfolio edition 36 of 75 lithograph 29 1/2 x 19 inches (unframed)Category
1970s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Mick Jagger (F&S II 140)By Andy WarholLocated in ZEIST, UTAndy Warhol- Mick Jagger (F&S II 140) Medium: Screen print on Arches Aquarelle (rough) paper Printer & Publisher: Printed by Alexander Heinrici, New York, 1975 Published by Seabird...Category
1970s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsScreen
- American TrilogyBy 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
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsScreen
- Bob Whitaker silkscreen print, Ringo StarrLocated in Norwich, GBA set of four screen prints produced by Bob Whitaker around 2005. Just 25 sets of Artists Proofs of these bold and dramatic screen prints were produced. Each print is made on on 27.5 x 39.5 inch paper, and numbered out of 25 AP's under the image area in pencil. One print (Paul McCartney) in each set has been signed by Bob Whitaker. They are sold as a complete set of four. The price is for the set, framed. Individual image sizes...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsScreen
- La Cage et TouBy Sandra ChevrierLocated in New York, NYSandra Chevrier is an artist who combines disparate pop art elements to create a commentary on celebrity worship and consumption. Marilyn Monroe is notoriously a figure who has been ...Category
2010s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsPrinter's Ink, Screen
- Ava Gardner AKA Frank Sinatra's NightmareBy Pure EvilLocated in New York, NYPure Evil AKA Charles Uzzell Edwards is an artist who depicts celebrity likenesses in his street-art style as a way to explore the dark side of celebrity worship. Many of his paintin...Category
2010s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsScreen
- Man Powered Airplane Solomon (Jun Rope)By Yokoo TadanoriLocated in New York, NYTadanori Yokoo Man Powered Airplane Solomon (Jun Rope), 1967 Silkscreen poster 41 x 29 inches (image) 44 1/4 x 32 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches (frame) Signed and stamped with Artist's seal Wh...Category
1970s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsScreen