Alex Katz is a New York-based painter and printmaker, who creates bold, simplified portraits and landscapes. He has been the recipient of numerous awards including the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship for Painting. His work is said to have influenced many painters such as and has become ubiquitous in advertising and graphic design. Katz is most-known for his large-scale, simplified images and portraits of his family and friends.

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. Skowhegan encouraged him to paint from life and his surroundings, which became an instrumental influence in his development as a painter.

Katz moved back to Manhattan in 1950, at a time when Abstract Expressionism was at its peak. 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 also experimented with other mediums such as collage, printmaking, and set design.

Alex Katz has been featured in numerous 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 (depending on the season). Martin Lawrence Galleries is proud to have select Alex Katz artworks in our inventory. Please click here to browse our collection.