Background
Alex Katz was born on July 24, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States. He is a son of Isaac Katz and Ella (Marion) Katz. In 1928, his family settled down in St. Albans, Queens, New York, where Katz grew up.
30 Cooper Sq, New York, NY 10003, United States
Cooper Union
1 Art School Road, Skowhegan, ME 04950, Madison, ME 04950, United States
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
633 W 155th St, New York, NY 10032, United States
American Academy of Arts and Letters
1083 5th Ave, New York, NY 10128, United States
National Academy of Design
Alex and Ada Katz in New York
Alex Katz was born on July 24, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States. He is a son of Isaac Katz and Ella (Marion) Katz. In 1928, his family settled down in St. Albans, Queens, New York, where Katz grew up.
Since 1946 to 1949, Katz studied at the Cooper Union in New York. In 1949, he enrolled at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, where he studied till 1950.
During his years at Cooper Union, Katz was exposed primarily to modern art and was taught to paint from drawings. Skowhegan encouraged him to paint from life.
Alex received honorary doctorates from Colby College in 1984 and from Colgate University in 2005.
In 1954, Katz held his first solo exhibition at the Roko Gallery, which is located in New York. During that time, he got acquainted with many figurative painters, such as Jane Freilicher, Fairfield Porter and Larry Rivers. He also met a photographer Rudolph Burckhardt and such poets, as John Ashbery, Edwin Denby, Kenneth Koch, Frank O’Hara and James Schuyler. In the late 1950's, he started to create portraits. At that time, he began to use monochrome backgrounds, which would become a defining characteristic of his style. In 1959, Alex made his first painted cutout. In the 1960s, he shifted to painting directly on shaped aluminum sheets, a practice, which has continued throughout his career, forming a series of freestanding or wall-mounted portraits.
During the early 1960's, the artist started to create large-scale paintings, often with dramatically cropped faces. Since 1964, he began to depict groups of figures. During the 1970's, Katz continued to paint groups of figures and also started to portray the social world of painters, poets, critics and other people, who surrounded him. Also, at that period, he designed sets and costumes for choreographer Paul Taylor. In the 1960's, Katz also collaborated with poets and writers, producing several notable editions, such as "Face of the Poet", combining his images with poetry.
In the 1980's, Katz continued to concentrate on portraiture and took his landscape in a new, larger direction, exemplified by the "Black Brook" paintings, which he described as "environmental". In 1986, his first major retrospective was held at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
In 2005, Katz participated in a public art project "Paint in the City", which was commissioned by United Technologies Corporation. The work, titled "Give Me Tomorrow", reached 28 feet tall and 53 feet long.
During his lifetime, the artist held numerous solo exhibitions at different museums, including the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, the Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and others. Currently, he divides his time between New York and Maine.
Ada in the Water
Bicycling in Central Park
Ada Ada
Three Cows
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Nell
Blue Umbrella
Ada (Oval)
Ada in Black Dress
Violet Daisies
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Vincent, Ruth and Paul
Vincent with Radio
Morning Nude
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Ada And Vincent
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Islesboro Ferryslip
Red Nude
Ada With Sunglasses
Swamp Maple
The Red Smile
A Window In A Building
Rockaway
Jacob
Ada with Flowers
Ada and Luisa
Tracy On The Raft At
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Red Coat
Ada in Black Sweater
Upside Down Ada
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Ada And Alex
Lili und Marleen: Roman
Moosehorn State Park
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Ada With Bathing Cap
Ada In Front Of Black Brook
A Tree In Winter
Hiroshi and Marcia
Untitled
Pamela and Sylvie
Vincent and Tony
Track Jacket
Song
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Alex Katz. Self-Portrait with Sunglasses
Alex Katz, Passing
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John
Roger and Sophie
West Interior
Round Hill
Patti and Martha
Your friends & neighbors
Vincent And Sunny
December
White Lilies
Bather
Untitled
Good Afternoon
Roof Garden
Ada Red Coat
Vincent Katz (with Frisbee)
Sunny
Ada in White Dress
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Quotations:
"I like to make an image that is so simple you can't avoid it, and so complicated you can't figure it out."
"Realist painting has to do with leaving out a lot of detail. I think my painting can be a little shocking in all that it leaves out. But what happens is that the mind fills in what's missing. Painting is a way of making you see what I saw."
"If you know what you're doing, you're doing dull stuff."
"Sometimes it takes me days or weeks to get something clear in my head on what I want to do. Everything is in steps. One thing leads to another."
"I know people can be a little nervous about swimsuits, but have some fun with it. Believe you can hold it down. If you believe you can hold it down, you can wear it."
"Painting seems an old man's business. After a certain time you're out of it, and you just paint masterpieces."
No matter where he is, Katz completes a fitness routine every morning. He typically finishes off 300 push-ups, a couple-hundred sit-ups, a 300-yard jog and a 100-yard sprint before breakfast.
Jean Cohen was Katz's first wife. The couple divorced in 1956. Some time later, on February 1, 1958, Alex married Ada Katz. Their marriage produced one child — Vincent Katz, who would later become a poet and translator.