Alex Katz Abstract Prints
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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20th Century Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Woodcut
2010s Modern Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Screen
1990s Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Screen
1990s Abstract Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Aquatint
2010s Modern Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Screen
1990s Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Paper, Screen
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Lithograph, Woodcut
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
2010s Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Paper, Screen
1970s Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Screen
Mid-20th Century Op Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Screen
1970s Post-Modern Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Printer's Ink, Laid Paper, Screen
1980s Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Archival Paper, Screen
1980s Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Archival Paper, Screen
1980s Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Paper, Screen
1980s Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Lithograph
1990s Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Ink, Lithograph, Offset
1960s Modern Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Woodcut
1970s Abstract Geometric Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Screen
1950s Modern Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Lithograph, Screen
1980s Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Lithograph, Screen, Offset
2010s Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Color, Aquatint, Photogravure
1970s Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Aquatint
2010s Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Screen
20th Century Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Woodcut
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Linocut
1990s Contemporary Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Woodcut
2010s Modern Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Screen
2010s Contemporary Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Screen
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Archival Paper, Woodcut
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Screen
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Alex Katz Abstract Prints
Archival Ink
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Artists Similar to Alex Katz
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Alex 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.