Alex Katz was born on July 24, 1927, in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. He was the son of Russian immigrants and grew up in Queens, New York. He attended Woodrow Wilson High School as it allowed him to devote his mornings to academics and his afternoons to the arts. Katz later served in the Navy until 1946, then enrolled at the Cooper Union School of Art in New York City. He also studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Madison, Maine. Katz preferred to paint representational works, specifically simplified forms and careful studies of light, flatness, and color. Many of his works featured his wife, Ada, as the main subject and she is often depicted in the flat abstract style that became synonymous with his name.

Katz has been the recipient of numerous awards including the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship for Painting. He has also been featured in many international exhibitions at museums and galleries worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art (New York City), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Tate Gallery (London) and more. He currently lives and works in both New York and Maine. Martin Lawrence Galleries is proud to have select Alex Katz artworks in our inventory.