Alex Katz
In Once in a Lifetime the artist lays out a journey through the different genres of his work, from monumental group portraits to the distinctive landscapes, by way of figurative representations in a variety of formats. There are also small studies, created with a lighter and more fluid technique than that used in the final canvases, and these sketches from life take us into his laborious creative process.
The formal motifs that recur in his compositions - female characters, male figures, alone or in company, against neutral backgrounds or in everyday settings, as well as elements of nature - are treated with a poetic intensity that is sometimes full of life and at other times somewhat more melancholy.
Alex Katz has been considered by some critics as a precursor of Pop Art for his personal interpretation of objective figuration in the early sixties. He shares with the artists of this movement the influence of mass media (the iconic transformation of its images, repetition and fragmentation of motifs, modes of representation drawn from cinema and advertising); the use of flat, bright colors; and also a preference for scenes of daily life, seemingly inconsequential, ephemeral moments that he raises to the level of art with freshness and elegance. But his interest in exploring how light modulates the surface of the painting, in contrast to the graphic style of Pop Art, differentiates him from this movement.
Eleuthera, 1984
Oil on linen
305 x 670,5 cm / 120 x 264 in
January 3, 1992
Oil on linen
200 x 419 cm / 78.5 x 165 in
Red Band, 1978
Oil on linen
183 x 366 cm / 72 x 144 in
Up in The Bleachers, 1983
Oil on linen
305 x 503 cm / 120 x 198 in
Ted Berrigan, 1967
Oil on linen
122 x 122 cm / 48 x 48 in
David and John, 1977
Oil on linen
183 x 244 cm / 72 x 96 in
Sylvia, 1962 - 63
Oil on linen
203 x 260,5 cm / 80 x 102.5 in
Here´s to you, 1961
Oil on linen
122 x 183 cm / 48 x 72 in
Thursday Night #2, 1974
Oil on linen
183 x 366 cm / 72 x 144 in
Black Hat #4, 2010
Oil on linen
152,5 x 366 cm / 60 x 144 in
Sharon and Vivien, 2009
Oil on linen
213,5 x 366 cm / 84 x 144 in
Bathing Cap (Sharon), 2010
Oil on linen
102 x 127 cm / 40 x 50 in
Bathing Cap (Meghan), 2010
Oil on linen
102 x 127 cm / 40 x 50 in
Bathing Cap (Suzette), 2010
Oil on linen
102 x 127 cm / 40 x 50 in
Bathing Cap (Ada), 2010
Oil on linen
102 x 127 cm / 40 x 50 in
Double Ada, 2002
Oil on linen
183 x 366 cm / 72 x 144 in
Ada with glasses, 1977
Oil on linen
244 x 183 cm / 96 x 72 in
White pines 2, 2005
Oil on linen
168 x 229 cm / 66 x 90 in
Sunset #6, 2008
Oil on linen
274,5 x 488 cm / 108 x 192 in
Red door, 2005
Oil on linen
328 x 244 cm / 129 x 96 in
White Pines, 2003
Oil on board
23 x 30,5 cm / 9 x 12 in
Snow, 2004
Oil on board
30,5 x 23 cm / 12 x 9 in
Roses, 2001
Oil on board
16,5 x 30,5 cm / 6.5 x 12 in
31 x 45 x 3,5 cm / 12.20 x 17.72 x 1.38 in (framed)
Piers, 1997
Oil on board
22,5 x 30 cm / 8.86 x 11.81 in
37,5 x 44,5 x 3,5 cm / 17.5 x 14.76 x 1.38 in (framed)
Ada with Sunglasses, 2005
Oil on board
23 x 30,5 cm / 9 x 12 in
37 x 44 x 3,5 cm / 17.5 x 14.5 x 1.38 in (framed)
January 7pm, 1997
Oil on linen
244 x 305 cm / 96 x 120 in
Black Brook 7, 1989
Oil on linen
183 x 244 cm / 72 x 96 in
