Alex Katz (b. 1927, Brooklyn, New York) is one of the most influential and distinctive figures in contemporary American art. Renowned for his crisp, flat surfaces, bold use of colour, and striking economy of line, Katz forged a unique visual language that emerged in the 1950s in contrast to the dominance of Abstract Expressionism in the 1940s and 1950s. His style — often seen as a precursor to Pop Art that emerged in the 1950s and flourished in the 1960s in America and Britain — melds elements of abstraction and representation, with influences ranging from Henri Matisse to mid-century American culture, film, and advertising.Over a prolific seven-decade career, Katz has created an expansive body of work encompassing portraiture, landscape, sculpture, and printmaking. His most iconic subjects include his wife and lifelong muse Ada, as well as friends, dancers, and fashionably dressed figures, often depicted in cropped, cinematic compositions that exude cool detachment and modern elegance. In his later years, Katz turned his focus toward nature, exploring light, seasons, and atmosphere in immersive large-scale landscapes.Katz has held over 200 solo exhibitions worldwide and his work is housed in major public collections including MoMA, the Whitney, the Tate, and Centre Pompidou. In 2022, he was honoured with a major retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum, and in 2024, his monumental seasonal landscapes were displayed at MoMA in New York. That same year, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by the White House, recognising his enduring impact on American visual culture.Katz lives and works in New York City and Lincolnville, Maine, continuing to paint “the immediate present” with timeless clarity and vision.

Alex Katz

With flat planes of rich, lovely color, Alex Katz’s landscapes and portraits evoke the smooth aesthetics of advertising billboards and film.

https://data.wengcontemporary.com/media/Alex_Katz_Vivien_in_Black_Hat_Content_Sheet_dDRm6BM.pdf

Vivien in Black Hat (2010) is a screen print by Alex Katz, part of his striking Black Hat series of the same year. The subject is filmmaker Vivien Bittencourt — Katz’s daughter-in-law — who, alongside her husband, created the documentary “Alex Katz: Five Hours” (1996), capturing the artist’s process while working on January 3 (1993).&nbsp;In this portrait, Vivien is portrayed wearing a wide-brimmed black hat and sunglasses, lending her an air of cool detachment and enigmatic presence. Rendered in 34 carefully layered colours, this limited edition exemplifies Katz’s signature minimalist style, featuring crisp contours and a solid, monochromatic background that amplifies the figure’s silhouette. The result is a composition that feels fresh, bold, and quietly captivating.

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“ I choose the people I portray instinctively. You have an idea and the person sort of fits it in. I am not trying to paint everyone, just people who fit what I’m trying to do. „

—Alex Katz