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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Alex Katz - American Dance Festival 1979 Original Vintage Poster
By Alex Katz
Located in Winchester, GB
Brilliant poster promoting the American Dance Festival 1979. With artwork from American Figurative artist Alex Katz, this brilliant monochrome piece captures the kinetic energy and m...
Paper
70s Original XAlex Katz Exhibition NOW Poster Womens Equal Rights Amendments ERA
By Alex Katz
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
70s Original Alex Katz Exhibition NOW Poster Womens Equal Rights Amendments ERA Spectacular, Oversized, Original, Lithograph poster by artist Alex Katz, in coordination with with th...
Paper
Alex Katz - American Dance Festival 1976 Original Vintage Poster
By Alex Katz
Located in Winchester, GB
Brilliant poster promoting the American Dance Festival 1976. With artwork from American Figurative artist Alex Katz, this warm and wonderful piece captures the kinetic energy and mov...
Paper
$440Sale Price|20% Off
H 22.25 in W 16.63 in D 0.07 in
Original Italian Art Exhibition Poster - Ferruccio Garopesani
Located in Miami, FL
Original Italian art exhibition poster by painter and designer Ferruccio Garopesani. Presented in 1975 at the Galleria International d'Arte - Diorena - Ascona, Italy. A native of ...
Paper
$1,200
H 36.25 in W 24.25 in D 0.75 in
Framed Calder Galerie Maeght Lithograph Poster Maeght Editeur - Arte Paris 70s
By Galerie Maeght, Calder
Located in New York, NY
Bold, colorful and graphic Galerie Maeghgt Calder Poster by Maeght Editeur - Arte Paris. The poster is in it's original vintage frame with a blue mat border, aluminum frame and gla...
Paper
$272Sale Price|20% Off
H 39.77 in W 27.56 in D 0.04 in
La Dance Limited Edition, Villemot Original Vintage Poster
By Bernard Villemot
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
Bernard Villemot was a French graphic artist known primarily for his iconic advertising images for Orangina, Bally Shoe, Perrier, and Air France. The original study was personally...
Paper
Fernand Leger Exhibition Poster
By (after) Fernand Léger
Located in Pasadena, TX
This poster is from the 1956 exhibition. The colors are vibrant and its in it's original from which is period.
Paper
$190Sale Price|30% Off
H 27.5 in W 19.63 in D 0.07 in
Henri Maccheroni Original Mid-Century Art Exhibition Poster
Located in Miami, FL
Original midcentury art exhibition poster from the Galerie Lovreglio in Nice, France depicting the work of Henri Maccheroni a French painter. Thi...
Paper
'Manhattan' Original Vintage Us Lobby Card Movie Poster, 1979
Located in Devon, GB
An international style US lobby card for Woody Allen's 1979 romantic comedy "Manhattan," starring co-writer and director Allen as a twice-divorced middle-aged comedy writer dating a ...
Paper
$376Sale Price|20% Off
H 25.99 in W 18.9 in D 0.04 in
Sonia Delaunay Exhibition 1968 Original Vintage Poster
By Sonia Delaunay
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
Exhibition poster for Sonia Delaunay printed by legendary printmakers Mourlot. This poster is framed in natural oak, please see photos.
Paper
$1,020
H 33.27 in W 22.25 in D 0.04 in
Original 1972 Exhibition Poster by Joan Miró – "Sobreteixims i Escultures"
By Joan Miró
Located in Barcelona, ES
Original 1972 Exhibition Poster by Joan Miró – "Sobreteixims i Escultures," Sala Gaspar Artist: Joan Miró Exhibition: "Sobreteixims i Escultures," Sala Gaspar, Barcelona Year: 19...
Paper
$396Sale Price|20% Off
H 25.63 in W 19.63 in D 0.07 in
Original French Abstract Art Exhibition Poster, French Poster Paris France
Located in Miami, FL
Original French abstract art exhibition poster. This poster was exhibited at the Galerie Agora, Paris, France, circa 1960. This vibrant poster, promoting an exhibition of A. Leve's...
Paper
$168Sale Price|20% Off
H 22.05 in W 15.75 in D 0.04 in
Festival de Jazz de Paris 1989 Original Vintage Poster
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
Festival de Jazz de Paris 1989.
Paper
$760Sale Price|20% Off
H 29.93 in W 15.75 in D 0.4 in
1963, 'La Revolution' Marc Chagall Original French Exhibition Poster
By Marc Chagall
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
1963, 'La Revolution' MARC CHAGALL original exhibition poster. This poster is in good condition, the poster is consistent with age, the colours are vibrant. ARTIST Marc Chag...
Paper
'Taxi Driver' Original Vintage Movie Poster, Australian, 1976
By Guy Peelleart
Located in Devon, GB
Set amidst the moral decay of New York City following the Vietnam War and Watergate scandal, Martin Scorsese's 1976 psychological thriller "Taxi Driver" starred Robert De Niro as a lonely and disturbed anti-hero cab driver and war vet growing increasingly alienated and unhinged as his dreams of cleaning up the corrupt and sleazy city lead him down a path of violence, plotting to assassinate both a presidential candidate and the pimp of an underage prostitute, played by a 12 year old Jodie Foster. Widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, it was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor for De Niro and Best Supporting Actor for Foster. De Niro's "You talkin' to me?" scene, where he imagines a confrontation in front of a mirror, gave us one of the most iconic quotes in movie history. This Australian Daybill poster features the same atmospheric Guy Peellaert...
Linen, Paper
Sold
H 60.5 in W 32.25 in D 2 in
Contemporary Modern Framed Poster Signed Alex Katz Brooklyn Academy of Music
By Alex Katz
Located in Keego Harbor, MI
For your consideration is a framed, numbered A.P poster for the Brooklyn Academy of Music's 125th Anniversary, circa 1986, signed by Alex Kat...
Sold
H 61 in W 31.5 in D 2 in
Contemporary Modern Framed Poster Signed Alex Katz Brooklyn Academy of Music
By Alex Katz
Located in Keego Harbor, MI
For your consideration is a framed, numbered A.P. poster for the Brooklyn Academy of Music's 125th Anniversary, circa 1986, 1/8. In excellent...