Katz, Alex
Katz, Alex,
1927–, American painter, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., studied Cooper Union, New York City (1946–49), Skowhegan School, Maine (1949–50). At a time when abstract expressionismabstract expressionism,movement of abstract painting that emerged in New York City during the mid-1940s and attained singular prominence in American art in the following decade; also called action painting and the New York school.
..... Click the link for more information. captured most critical and popular attention, Katz devoted himself to cool interpretations of the human figure and the landscape. He is known for large, flat, simplified, and boldly colored figurative canvases painted in what has been described as a billboard style. His numerous portraits, two-dimensional and stylized, many portraying his wife Ada, are particularly acclaimed. He also has created still lives in a similar all-over style, and has worked extensively in collage and printmaking. Many of his works are on permanent display at the Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Me.
Bibliography
See biography by I. Sandler (1979); studies by S. Hunter (1992), P. Blum and J. Merlin (2002), and C. Ratcliff (2005); exhibition catalogs by R. Marshall and R. Rosenblum (1986), D. Sylvester, ed. (1997), A. Heiss (1998), I. Sandler (1998), and V. Coen, ed. (1999); V. Bittencourt and V. Katz, dir., Alex Katz Five Hours (video, 1996).