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Alex Katz Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

American, b. 1927

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.

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Artist: Alex Katz
Master American Contemporaries
By Alex Katz
Located in Wien, 9
The art work is signed in the print at the lower left and numbered in pencil: P.P. II/IV This special art piece "Master American Contemporaries" by Alex Katz (*1927) is a colour lit...
Category

1990s Abstract Alex Katz Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

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Vincent
By Alex Katz
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Alex Katz (b. 1927) has been dedicated to art-making since the 1950's - however, it wasn't until the 60's when he established his signature 'flat' figurative style. Over the succeedi...
Category

1960s Pop Art Alex Katz Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Alex Katz 'Rudy' Signed Pencil Drawing 1973
By Alex Katz
Located in Miami, FL
ALEX KATZ (1927-Present) Alex Katz' 'Rudy' is a 1972 graphite drawing on paper. This original piece is signed 'Alex Katz '73', previously acquired from Marlborough Gallery, New Yor...
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1990s Contemporary Alex Katz Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

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"Chris", charcoal, drawing, Katz, Portrait, cool
By Alex Katz
Located in Köln, DE
This is an outstanding charcoal drawing by Alex Katz. He is portraying "Chris", who was model for several paintings and prints. Drawings do have an important impact to Alex Katz pain...
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2010s Contemporary Alex Katz Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

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Plate Six from Novecento (Mixed media lithograph with chalk pastel), Signed/N
By Nam June Paik
Located in New York, NY
Nam June Paik Untitled, Plate Six from Novecento, 1992 Mixed Media: Color offset lithograph with unique chalk pastel drawing 13 3/10 × 18 inches Hand signed, Edition 104/130 Pencil numbered 104/130, hand signed in pastel chalk on the front Edizioni Carte Segrete, Rome, Italy Excellent condition; held in matting which can be easily removed The matting measures 18" x 21" This was part of a series of works produced for the Nam June Paik retrospective at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, 1992, Nam June Paik: Arti Elletroniche. This is one of the editions which bears unique hand coloring with pastel chalk. A comparable work sold at auction in 2015 for US $12,583. (see details below): Nam June Paik Title Novecento Description Nam June PAI K Novecento 1930-1940, 1992 Pastel sur offset en couleurs, épreuve signée et numérotée 104/130 Edizioni Carte Segrete, Rome 23,5 x 39,5 cm EH Oeuvre réalisée a l'occasion de la rétrospective Paik au Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, 1992, Nam June Paik: Arti Elletroniche, cinema e Media Verso il XXI Secolo Medium pastel Year of Work 1992 Size Height 9.3 in.; Width 15.6 in. / Height 23.5 cm.; Width 39.5 cm. Misc. Signed Sale of Millon & Associés: Monday, June 22, 2015 [Lot 00090] Design Sold For 11,057 EUR Hammer (12,583 USD) Nam June Paik Biography Nam June Paik was born in 1932 in Seoul. He received a BA in aesthetics from the University of Tokyo in 1956 where he also studied music and art history. After graduating, he studied for a year with composer Thrasybulus Georgiades Georgiades at the University of Munich and for two years with composer Woflgang Fortner at the International Music College in Freiburg. He attended the International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt in 1957, when he met Karlheinz Stockhausen, and in 1958, when he met John Cage. Cage, and through him Marcel Duchamp, had a significant influence on Paik as he became a major force in the avant-garde through performances. In Hommage à John Cage (1959), Paik employed audiotape and performance to attack traditional musical instrumentation and compositional practices, splicing together piano playing, screaming, bits of classical music, and sound effects. Realizing that taped sound was not enough, he decided to move into performance, first by introducing performative actions into his audio works. In 1961 Paik performed Simple, Zen for Head and Étude Platonique No. 3, in which he became a volatile figure, thrashing about in unexpected patterns and sudden movements to his signature soundtracks. In 1962 Paik participated in the Fluxus International Festival of the New Music in Weisbaden. Paik's first exhibition, entitled Exposition of Music - Electronic Television, in 1963 at Galerie Parnass at Wuppertal, launched his transition from composer and performance artist to the inventor of a new art form: an engagement with the material site of television as an instrument. In the exhibition, thirteen televisions lay on their backs and sides with their reception altered; for example, Zen for TV (1963) reduced the television picture to a horizontal line and Kuba TV (1963) shrank and expanded the image on the television set according to the changing volume. In 1964 Paik traveled to the US. He quickly settled in New York and became a leading innovator among an emerging generation of artists seeking new modes of artistic expression and distribution. That same year, Paik collaborated with Shuya Abe to create Robot K-456 (1964), a remote controlled robot that played audiotaped speeches by John F. Kennedy and defecated beans in Paik's Robot Opera (1964). In the interactive work Magnet TV (1965), Paik invited viewers to modify the television's output into swerving abstract lines through the movement of a magnet over the TV. In 1967 Paik and frequent collaborator Charlotte Moorman were arrested when Moorman performed Paik's Opera Sextronique (1967), a striptease as she played the cello at the Filmmakers' Cinematheque in New York. Paik's TV Bra for Living Sculpture (1969), which Moorman wore in performances, featured two television tubes...
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Alex Katz drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Alex Katz drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Alex Katz in pencil, charcoal, paper and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Alex Katz drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 9 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of David Becker, Antonio Lopez, and Kate Glasheen. Alex Katz drawings and watercolor paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $18,000 and tops out at $50,000, while the average work can sell for $40,000.
Questions About Alex Katz Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
  • 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022
    Alex Katz is a contemporary artist who produced paintings, sculptures and prints. Many historians associate him with the Nouveau réalisme movement, but he also worked in figurative and Pop art styles. Shop a collection of Alex Katz art on 1stDibs.
  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 16, 2024
    What media Alex Katz uses varies. Over the course of his career, the American artist has worked in painting, sculpture and printmaking. Always finding new perspectives on his work, he has explored using iPhone photographs as the basis for large-scale compositions in recent years. On 1stDibs, shop an assortment of Alex Katz art.
  • 1stDibs ExpertMay 3, 2024
    Yes, Alex Katz's style is Pop art. During the 1950s, he experimented with collage and painting on aluminum sheets, with his later 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. These sources of inspiration align with Pop art's focus on transforming elements of popular culture into fine art. On 1stDibs, shop a collection of Alex Katz art.

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