Alex Katz
Born in Brooklyn, NY
1927- Present
In this week’s Artist Spotlight, we’re diving into the bold and stylish world of Alex Katz, one of the most celebrated living contemporary artists! Katz's work is notable for its simplicity, vibrant colors, and flat planes, which bridge the gap between realism and abstraction and serve as precursors to Pop Art. While we don't have any of his work displayed in our Houston gallery, his pieces are still available for purchase at Saks Fifth Avenue via our CNCT app, offering our customers access to his incredible art from anywhere.
Born in Brooklyn, NY, to Jewish immigrant parents, Katz studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine before he met his now-wife, Ada, who has been his muse for over 60 years. Ada’s timeless beauty is a constant inspiration for Katz, and you can see her immortalized in many of his portraits, most famously in Black Dress (1960). We’re lucky to have one of Katz’s stunning depictions of Ada in a blue hat at Saks, priced at $34,000—it’s the most expensive work in our collection.
Katz’s large-scale paintings are known for their bold simplicity and vibrant colors, influenced by films, TV, and billboard advertising. His clean lines and flat planes make his style instantly recognizable. Katz also took inspiration from Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamaro, who was known for his woodblock prints depicting "large-headed pictures of beautiful women" in the 1790s.?
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In the late 1950s, Alex Katz began creating "cutouts"—two-sided paintings on wood and later aluminum panels. These pieces blur the line between painting and sculpture, and we’re excited to have two of his iconic cutouts in the collection at Saks!
Alex Katz’s recent retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City celebrated his remarkable, decades-long career. Spanning over 70 years of work, the exhibition showcased his signature large-scale portraits, vibrant landscapes, and cutouts, highlighting his influence on contemporary art. The retrospective emphasized Katz’s enduring exploration of color, light, and form, solidifying his status as a leading figure in modern art.
Katz also ventured into fashion, with models like Kate Moss and Christy Turlington serving as subjects for his later works. If your clients are local art lovers, they can even see his large-scale painting Perry and Pamela?(1977) now on view at the MFAH Kinder Building, or his floral prints at McClain Gallery here in Houston.
We only have 25 of the 4,000 pieces in the collection displayed in-store at our Houston location, so be sure to also check out The Gallery at Saks app for more available art works using the link below: