Vivien with Hat
Lisa Burgess
Fine Art Gallery President | Private Art Advising | Board Member at Florida Council on Arts and Culture for the State of Florida - Gubernatorial Appointment
The large format portrait “Vivien with Hat”?shows Vivien Bittencourt, Alex Katz’s daughter–in-law?in a white summer wide-brimmed?hat.??This signature?reductive?aesthetic?is clearly?Alex?Katz. Pulling out only the essential visual components of his subject,?Katz?delivers a face in a seemingly raw power stroke. Flat, illustrative qualities are married with hard-edged accessories and minimal modeling techniques.??At its core, a subtractive methodology by the artist allows him to edit out the visual noise and concentrate visually on the essential key elements of his art, in this case, his family.??
The use of soft colors and emphasis on fashionable details in his painting?transforms the coldness of sharp lines and lack of detail into a stunning contemporary art portrait by an unrelenting 94-year-old painter.??
Katz’s use of the achromatic blue field is not so much a void but a masterful decision of the “less is more” disposition.?A color field technique,?Katz?conquers the ability of using the blue hue not as?negative?space but instead cleverly addressing the surroundings with the concept of?maximizing?a token of color versus a destitute environment lacking in notice.??
Vivien Bittencourt grew up in S?o Paulo, Brazil, where she received a degree in history from the University of S?o Paulo. In 1986, she moved to New York City to pursue her interest in filmmaking. She produced and directed documentaries about artists, including Rudy Burckhardt, Alex Katz and Kiki Smith.??
“Vivien with Hat”?is an exemplary work by Alex Katz now available at?New River Fine Art.???
~?
Image:?
Alex Katz (b.?1927)?
Vivien?with Hat, 2021, (149/150)?
Archival pigment?Print?on Innova 315?gsm?paper?
36 x 48 in?
Framed?
Email [email protected] for more information, or visit www.newriverfineart.com
#AlexKatz #Katz #VivienwithHat #VivienBittencourt #NewRiverFineArt #contemporaryart #contemporaryportrait #FortLauderdale #SouthFlorida #reductive #minimalist #minimalism #Contemporaryartoninstagram #ArtonIG #Contemporaryartcollector #artcollector??
?