Morris Katz Art
Polish, 1932-2010
Morris Katz (born Moshe Katz on March 5, 1932 in Galicia, Poland, died November 12, 2010 at age 78 in The Bronx, New York) was a Jewish-American painter. He holds two Guinness World Records as the world's fastest painter and the world's most prolific artist.
He has also been called the "King of Schlock Art" and the "King of Toilet Paper Art" because of a novel means of painting he developed using a palette knife and toilet tissue instead of a paintbrush. Katz was born in 1932 in Galicia, Poland. At age 13 he studied under Dr. Hans Fokler of the Munich Academy. After World War II, he lived for a while in a displaced persons camp, where he earned a diploma in carpentry, and he has since said that toilet paper is his "diploma in art."
He moved to the United States in 1949, when he took a job in carpentry while maintaining a sideline with his art. While working on his unpublished Dictionary of Color in 1956, he decided to try painting with his palette knife instead of his brushes. After some time he also began experimenting with the use of rags; when he ran out of rags he turned to toilet tissue. As of February 2007, over his career he had painted more than 280,000 paintings.
Over his long career, he has established himself as a painter, comedian, and television personality. Katz describes his method as "Instant Art," as he has completed entire paintings in as little as 30 seconds. In a 1987 event to benefit the Boy Scouts of America, Katz completed 103 paintings (selling 55 of them on the spot) in 12 hours. He is listed as a human oddity in Ripley's Believe It Or Not because of his ability to paint full works of art in less than five minutes.(Biography provided by Robert Azensky Fine Art)
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Artist: Morris Katz
“Untitled”
By Morris Katz
Located in Warren, NJ
This is a Morris Katz painting on board. In good condition measures 68x46. Buyer must pay and cover all shipping cost.
Category
20th Century Morris Katz Art
Materials
Oil
“Snow scene”
By Morris Katz
Located in Warren, NJ
Morris Katz original oil on board unique colors. Some minor frame wear . Measures 17x15
Category
20th Century Morris Katz Art
Materials
Oil
“Ocean scene”
By Morris Katz
Located in Warren, NJ
Morris katz oil painting 1978. In good condition measures 32x28
Category
20th Century Morris Katz Art
Materials
Oil
Red Roses, Late 20th Century Impasto Floral Still-Life, Record Breaking Artist
By Morris Katz
Located in Soquel, CA
Beautiful impasto still life of a vase of red and white roses on a table by Morris Katz (American, 1931-2010).
Signed and dated "Morris Katz 1997" lower right.
Presented in a gilt...
Category
1990s Contemporary Morris Katz Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Morris Katz painting 2002
By Morris Katz
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Morris Katz Painting 2002:
Oil paint on wood board. Unique.
8x10 inches.
Very good overall vintage condition.
Polish born Morris Katz (1932 – 2010) survived World War II in a Disp...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Morris Katz Art
Materials
Wood, Oil
Landscape with people fishing
By Morris Katz
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork "Landscape with People Fishing" 1978, is an oil painting on hard board by Polish/American artist Morris Katz, 1932-2010. It is signed and dated at the lower right corner by the artist. The artwork (Hard Board) size is 20 x 24 inches, framed size is 28 x 31.75 inches. Framed in original wooden gold frame, with fabric liner and gold trim. The artwork is in excellent condition, the frame is in very good condition.
About the artist:
On May 9th, 1988, the New York artist set a new world record by painting a 12- by 16-inch canvas of a child in the snow in just half a minute. (It took an additional eight seconds to frame it.) And that wasn’t the only distinction granted to Katz by the Guinness Book of World Records—his name appeared alongside Pablo Picasso’s under the heading for “Most Prolific Painters.” The Spanish master is estimated to have completed some 13,500 paintings in his life; when Katz died in 2010 at age 78, he was credited with 225,000.
Katz’s preposterously productive career began in the small Polish village where he was born in 1932. He started studying under a German painter at age 13, but following World War II he earned a diploma in carpentry instead. In 1949, at the age of 17, he travelled to the United States. It was there that he picked up a paintbrush again, while studying at the Art Students League of New York and showing in the Village. “Soon, I decided I was good enough—compared to others, excellent enough—to make my living as an artist,” he said.
It was during those years that he developed the techniques that would eventually land him in the record books. He tossed out his paintbrushes and replaced them with palette knives and toilet paper, which he used to stipple the paint. “Soon I picked up speed,” Katz said. “If you know which way you’re travelling, then you can run.” He made art in bulk, buying up canvases by the thousands and paint by the gallon. He went through some 10,000 rolls of toilet paper per year; he often wore out palette knives.
Katz branded his method as “instant art.” Charles Salzberg, writing in New York magazine in 1978, urged readers, “Think of him, if you will, as the McDonald’s of the art world”—fast, cheap, and ubiquitous.
He wore a green beret, paint-splattered pants, and a shirt emblazoned with the words “Morris Katz - World’s Most Prolific Artist.” It was a title that came with a price—he worked 18-hour days into his 60s, sometimes from his Greenwich Village studio and other times as a performer at hotels across the Catskills. He would often visit three different hotels in the same day, waking up at 7 a.m. and returning home as late as 1 a.m.
His show was as much about the painting as it was the one-liners: “These are the highlights—you can tell because they’re high up on the painting,” he might say. Audiences gobbled up the jokes and the works, often paying less than $50 for a painting. “I give them a fresh painting like a fresh bagel,” he said.
Photographer David M. Spindel first met Katz on assignment. “They’d call him mashugana—that’s the Yiddish word for a little bit crazy,” he told Artsy. The pair soon became friends, and Spindel ended up attending several of the artist’s hotel shows.
“There were a lot of people from the hotel who were sitting in the room and he set up his easel and his toilet paper and paints and knocked out paintings one after another,” Spindel said. “Just a couple of minutes for each painting, usually. If he was kibitzing with the people in the audience then it took a lot longer. He was always clowning around.”
His act was ready-made for television; he appeared on 60 Minutes, David Letterman, and Oprah, among other programs. And Katz didn’t just make instant art—he taught it as well. In 1987, the New Yorker sent a writer to attend one of his speed-painting classes at the Notre Dame School on West 79th Street. A dozen eager students watched in admiration as he whipped up a mountain landscape, asking for advice on how, exactly, to hold their toilet paper for maximum artistic effect. For those who couldn’t make it to Manhattan for a lesson, he published a book—Paint Good & Fast (1985)—with a title as straightforward as his philosophy on art.
“Life goes faster and faster,” he wrote. “The fine arts must keep pace. This art will one day be...
Category
Late 20th Century American Impressionist Morris Katz Art
Materials
Oil
Morris Katz Set of Three of Original Seascape Oil Paintings C.2001
By Morris Katz
Located in San Francisco, CA
Morris Katz (Ukraine / New York 1931-2010)
Set of Three of Original Seascape Oil Paintings c.2001
A nice collection of original oil paintings by Morris Katz.
Seagulls flying over crashing waves.
Each painting measures 5" x 7"
One frame measures 7" x 9" The other two frames measure 8" x 10"
Signed, dated and framed by Morris Katz
Very good vintage condition
Offered as a matching trio only
Morris Katz (born Moshe Katz on March 5, 1932 – November 12, 2010) was a Polish-American painter. He holds two Guinness World Records as the world's fastest painter and the world's most prolific artist. He has also been called the "King of Schlock Art" and the "King of Toilet Paper Art" because of a novel means of painting he developed using a palette knife and toilet tissue...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Morris Katz Art
Materials
Oil
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Late 20th Century Expressionist Morris Katz Art
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Morris Katz Pair of Original Outdoor Landscape Oil Paintings C.1991
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Morris Katz art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Morris Katz art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Morris Katz in oil paint, paint, wood and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Morris Katz art, so small editions measuring 8 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Helena Malarewicz-Krajewska, Noel Howard, and Duane Albert Armstrong. Morris Katz art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $400 and tops out at $1,516, while the average work can sell for $545.
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Questions About Morris Katz Art
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