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KATZ Alex

image UnitedStatesOfAmerica
1927
123 lots
image KATZ Alex

Alex Katz is an influential American artist known for his distinctive approach to portraiture and landscape painting. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he grew up during the Great Depression and later studied at the Cooper Union and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Katz developed a unique style characterized by flat planes of color, simplified forms, and a cool, detached aesthetic that set him apart from the dominant Abstract Expressionist movement of his time. His work often features friends, family members, and figures from the New York cultural scene, rendered with crisp lines and minimal detail. Paintings such as Ada—a recurring subject based on his wife—demonstrate his ability to capture personality through subtle gestures and composition. Katz’s large-scale canvases and use of bold color anticipate aspects of Pop Art, though he maintained a focus on observation rather than mass culture. Throughout his long career, Katz has remained remarkably consistent while continuing to experiment with scale and format, including cutouts and prints. His art emphasizes immediacy and clarity, inviting viewers to engage with surface and presence rather than narrative depth. Today, Alex Katz is widely regarded as a key figure in contemporary art, whose work bridges modernism and postmodern sensibilities.

image Pink Roses 3
Pink Roses 3
UncategorizedOil2012
Sold For
$378,000
May 2024ALEX KATZ (B. 1927)| Pink Roses 3 | oil on linen| 60 x 60 in. (152.4 x 152.4 cm.)| Painted in 2012.|
image Hope
Hope
UncategorizedOil2012
Sold For
$390,600
May 2024ALEX KATZ (B. 1927)| Hope | signed 'Alex Katz' (on the overlap)| oil on linen| 50 x 40 in. (127 x 101.6 cm.)| Painted in 2012.|
image Chris
Chris
PaintingOil
Sold For
£27,500
June 2016Alex Katz (b. 1927)| Chris| signed and dated ' Alex Katz 11' (lower right)| oil on board| 12 x 15 7/8in. (30.5 x 40.4cm.)| Painted in 2011|
image Buttercup 1
Buttercup 1
PaintingOil
Sold For
£22,500
March 2016Alex Katz (1927) | Buttercup 1 | oil on panel | 22.9 by 30.5cm.; 9 by 12in. | Condition: Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is brighter and more vibrant in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Close inspection reveals a minute spot of wear on the lower extreme edge towards the lower left corner. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultraviolet light."In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
image Trees
Trees
PaintingOil
Sold For
£20,000
March 2016Alex Katz (1927) | Trees | oil on panel | 30 by 23cm.; 11 7/8 by 9 1/8 in. | Condition: Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the yellow is slightly deeper and richer in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Very close inspection reveals two minute specks of loss; one towards the centre of the extreme lower edge and one to the extreme left edge, approximately 5cm. from the lower left corner. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultraviolet light."In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
image Eyes Closed (Grisaille)
Eyes Closed (Grisaille)
PaintingOil
Sold For
$212,500
March 2016Alex Katz (1927) | Eyes Closed (Grisaille) | oil on canvas | 120 by 60 in. 304.8 by 152.4 cm. | “Katz has brilliantly managed to synthesize the artistic impulses of his own era and earlier modernist eras that preceded him, forging elements of Abstract Expressionism with the elegant forms of Matisse and Manet, artists who explored color and planes, who compressed volume into flatness and yet evoked convincing weight, movement, and human personality in their work.” (Sam Hunter, Alex Katz, Rizzoli, New York, 1992, p. 25)
image Moonlight
Moonlight
PaintingOil
Sold For
$37,500
March 2016Alex Katz (1927) | Moonlight | oil on board | 9 by 12 in. 22.9 by 30.5 cm. | Condition: This work is in excellent condition. There are no apparent condition issues with this work. Framed.In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
image Purple Wind
Purple Wind
PaintingOil
Sold For
$37,500
March 2016Alex Katz (1927) | Purple Wind | oil on board | 11 3/4 by 9 in. 29.7 by 22.9 cm. | Condition: This work is in excellent condition. There are no apparent condition issues with this work. Framed.In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
image Yellow House
Yellow House
PaintingOil
Sold For
$40,000
November 2015Alex Katz (1927) | Yellow House | oil on board | 14 by 12 in. 35.5 by 30.5 cm.
image Red Nude
Red Nude
PaintingOil
Sold For
£16,250
October 2015Alex Katz (b. 1927)| Red Nude | signed and dated 'alex katz 88' (upper right)| oil on masonite| 16 1/8 x 12in. (41 x 30.5cm.)| Executed in 1988|
image Kate
Kate
PaintingOil
Sold For
£245,000
October 2015Alex Katz (1927) | Kate | oil on canvas | 183 by 152.8cm.; 72 by 60 1/8 in. | “She’s completely ordinary. That’s what makes her so extraordinary” was the statement Alex Katz made of supermodel and icon Kate Moss after seeing her in a New York restaurant with her then-boyfriend Johnny Depp. This could be extrapolated to describe the artist’s reductive practice of portraiture. His trademark flattened shapes and smooth, magnified saturation of colours are preferred to the more traditional practice of perspective and detailed brushwork that create depth and illusion. “I’m interested in painting new paintings. [The surface is] one of the most original things a painter can do. It’s not in your face. It’s a recessive part of the painting. People don’t even notice it unless they’re painters. Painters can look at it, and I say, ‘Eat your heart out.’” (The artist quoted in Anneliese Jakimides, “Katz’s Eye,” Bangor Metro, Bangor, September 2008, pp. 36-39). In spite of his interest in figuration and portraiture in particular, Alex Katz is not a painter of narratives. In the present painting, no indication is given as to the time or place of the scene represented, or even the identity of the sitter. Her facial features are stripped to their bare essentials, her blank stare contrasts with her seductive pose, her hair is blonder and sleeker than in reality. Instead, the eye is attracted to elements which cling on the surface: the subtle play of light and shadow, the stark contrast between the three predominant hues, the lack of depth which makes the composition surreal and improbable, the figure’s remote expression, the screen of coolness that emanates from the canvas. Katz focusses his attention on style and appearance, which are “the things I’m more concerned about than what something means. I’d like to have style take the place of content, or the style be the content… I prefer it to be emptied of meaning, emptied of content.” (The artist quoted in Richard Marshall, “Sources of Style” in Exhibition Catalogue, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Alex Katz, 1986, p. 13). With it's grand scale, bold brushwork and stylised features, Kate stands as a wonderful example of Katz's exploration of media-conveyed images.
image Cindy
Cindy
PaintingOil
Sold For
$322,000
September 2015Alex Katz (1927) | Cindy | oil on canvas | 96 by 33 5/8 in. 243.8 by 85.4 cm. | For more than half a century Alex Katz’s unique style, commitment to figurative painting and cool aesthetic have set him apart from his contemporaries. Katz began to develop his flattened and figurative painting technique during the advent of Abstract Expressionism in New York in the 1950s and for many years the artist’s oeuvre was mostly identified as a precursor to Pop Art. He became newly appreciated in the American art scene in the 1980s when artists, including David Salle and Francesco Clemente, began to use Katz’s work as a valuable model for their own figurative practice. Katz gained international recognition and critical acclaim in the second half of the '80s with his 1986 retrospective at the Whitney Museum in New York and feature in the 1989 publication of the Parkett review. Scholars, such as Eric de Chassey, have credited Katz with reframing the discourse of modernism. De Chassey writes, “Katz was one of the first to show in a new way that the pictorial and the iconographic are conciliatory, as opposed to the dominant discourse of Modernism, which situates non-figuration as an historical necessity…”(Alex Katz, Vittoria Coen, and Lisa Liebman, Alex Katz, Torino, 1999, p. 212) Katz, with his self-assured use of line and color and his eye for subtle light, finds the abstract in the figurative. By remaining steadfast to his immediately identifiable visual vocabulary, Katz has established himself as one of the most admired artists of his generation. Katz’s portraits of individuals, which masterfully capture nuances in the sitter, are an essential part of his renowned body of work. In the present work, Cindy, Katz uses color, tone and line to create a composition where purity and serene simplicity delightfully intermingle with abstraction in the cropped profile of the famous photographer Cindy Sherman. Cindy was included in the 2004 solo exhibition Alex Katz: Twelve Paintings at PaceWildenstein in New York along with nine other one-name portraits of women. Although similar in size, format and composition to the other works in the show, Cindy stands out with its unique coloration. In Cindy, Katz uses warmer tones than in the other works and employs a peachy palette of soft yellows and pinks that create a unique harmony and balance in his portrait of Sherman. Katz depicts a stripped down version of the artist without the accoutrements of her craft. He is able to skillfully capture the distant gaze that is reminiscent of Sherman’s stare in many of her own celebrated self-portrait photographs. At first glimpse, Cindy’s appearance seems natural, but with more careful contemplation we see her eyes sit on an unrealistic plane, slightly askew. The abstraction in her face slowly reveals itself through the skewing, the wisps of luminous yellow hair and the flat patches of light that form in amorphous shapes on her cheeks and nose. We see a new, softer and aloof side of an artist that is renowned for assuming other personas in her work. The multifaceted interplay amongst the elements of Cindy’s portrait is a quality that illuminates many of Katz’s best works. De Chassey writes, “Each of the elements seems to have been stylized independently before participating in a more complex game, in a way which gives as much importance to the movement of hair as it does to the shine of lip make-up, to the contour of a face as much to the effect of light upon it. In this way, each element becomes a messenger of the sensuality which is reinforced by the whole.”(Ibid, p. 214) In this portrayal of Cindy Sherman, in his iconic style, using flatness, light and color, Katz showcases his stunning ability to reveal the spirit of his subject in a surprising and subtle way.
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