Alex Katz(X)
His father, a Russian-Jewish immigrant, was a businessman, his mother a theater actress. After completing school, Alex Katz studied at the Cooper Union Art School in New York from 1946 to 1950 and later at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. From 1962 to 1979 the artist was a member of the school's board of directors. At the beginning of the 1950s, Katz abandoned the style of Abstract Expressionism, which he had previously followed in his own expressive language. During this time he was one of the first artists to realize a figurative style and from then on followed representational painting. His motifs were based on modern tastes from media such as magazines, cinema and advertising. At the beginning of 1960, Alex Katz began making large-format paintings. His motifs came from industry, such as the beverage manufacturer Pepsi or the cigarette company Lucky Strike.
He also looked at pictures by directors such as Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni. His wife Ada often modeled for him. Alex Katz's first solo exhibition took place in 1954 at the Roko Gallery in New York. Katz paints portraits, figures, landscapes and buildings in a reductionist manner and thereby achieved a striking style that makes the images appear like advertising posters, as in the works "Ada with white dress" (1958) or "White Petunia" (1968). The painting entitled "The Red Smile" was created in 1963. The artist develops the two-dimensional color very strongly and refrains from grading individual colors. He creates masks using a rigid, smooth surface that reveals nothing of their inner life and therefore appears unapproachable to the viewer. This style of design reveals his view of the art of painting, in which style is more important to him than psychological or narrative elements.
The elegance of his pictures is based on Japanese wood carving or ancient Egyptian art. He created his landscape paintings, which express a condensed color intensity, without people. Works such as "Pas de deux," among others, established him as widely known in the 1980s. Although he was previously a respected painter in professional circles and among critics, he lacked the acclaim of the masses. This recognition is not only expressed by the fact that his paintings are now represented in important galleries such as Rafael Jablonka or Thaddaeus Ropac, but also fetch prices starting at 150,000 euros. Katz's early painting technique paved the way for Pop Art and made him an important painter of figurative realism. His focus is on portraits, which he has been creating for over half a century.
Alex Katz's pictures have been exhibited in the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden and the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, among others. In 1999, Katz's works were featured in the opening credits of the film "Your friends and neighbors" by Hollywood director Neil LaBute. In April 2001, the artist visited Berlin-Wannsee as a visiting fellow at the American Academy. In Germany, some of his paintings were shown as a retrospective in May 2002 at the Bonn Art and Exhibition Hall under the title "In Your Face". The repertoire of the copies included his most important works from the 1950s to the present. His artistic ambitions also include designing costumes and stage sets.
He also looked at pictures by directors such as Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni. His wife Ada often modeled for him. Alex Katz's first solo exhibition took place in 1954 at the Roko Gallery in New York. Katz paints portraits, figures, landscapes and buildings in a reductionist manner and thereby achieved a striking style that makes the images appear like advertising posters, as in the works "Ada with white dress" (1958) or "White Petunia" (1968). The painting entitled "The Red Smile" was created in 1963. The artist develops the two-dimensional color very strongly and refrains from grading individual colors. He creates masks using a rigid, smooth surface that reveals nothing of their inner life and therefore appears unapproachable to the viewer. This style of design reveals his view of the art of painting, in which style is more important to him than psychological or narrative elements.
The elegance of his pictures is based on Japanese wood carving or ancient Egyptian art. He created his landscape paintings, which express a condensed color intensity, without people. Works such as "Pas de deux," among others, established him as widely known in the 1980s. Although he was previously a respected painter in professional circles and among critics, he lacked the acclaim of the masses. This recognition is not only expressed by the fact that his paintings are now represented in important galleries such as Rafael Jablonka or Thaddaeus Ropac, but also fetch prices starting at 150,000 euros. Katz's early painting technique paved the way for Pop Art and made him an important painter of figurative realism. His focus is on portraits, which he has been creating for over half a century.
Alex Katz's pictures have been exhibited in the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden and the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, among others. In 1999, Katz's works were featured in the opening credits of the film "Your friends and neighbors" by Hollywood director Neil LaBute. In April 2001, the artist visited Berlin-Wannsee as a visiting fellow at the American Academy. In Germany, some of his paintings were shown as a retrospective in May 2002 at the Bonn Art and Exhibition Hall under the title "In Your Face". The repertoire of the copies included his most important works from the 1950s to the present. His artistic ambitions also include designing costumes and stage sets.