Alex Katz
YELLOW FLAGS ON BROWN, 2023
Archival pigment ink print, on Innova Etching Cotton Rag 315 gsm
24 x 30
56/150
Hand signed in pencil and dated
Available at VFA
The fine art prints of Alex Katz (b. 1927) have been a treasured part of the VFA gallery since we opened our doors in 2011.
A masterful printmaker, Katz is able to create boldly simplified portraits and landscapes, often using a dozen or more colors.
As a young artist in mid-century America, when Abstract Expressionism was lauded, the figurative and landscape works of Katz were often criticized. “My paintings were considered passe to the abstracts,” he said in an Artforum interview, “and to the figurative painters they were considered unfinished, so I was out of the art world in a way.”
Alex Katz continued to paint and print and hone his own style and technique. He painted the family and friends who supported him and the landscapes that surrounded him. The critics were still around, but had a compelling, and even positive, influence. “When I got a bad review I wanted to come out the next time and stick an elbow in the reviewer’s face." Katz said in a CBS interview. “I think that’s part of the drive.”
Katz began to have a large following in Europe after collector Charles Saatchi showed off his collection of Katz’s works in his private museum in London in 1999.
Katz's incredibly successful retrospective at the Guggenheim in 2022 garnered glowing reviews from art critics.
At this year’s Art Basel Miami, a 1973 painting by Katz sold for $2.5 million and Wildflowers 1, a more recent painting sold for $1.5 million.
Alex Katz received the National Medal of Arts in 2024. He has supported many young, contemporary artists by buying and donating their works to museums.
At age 98, he is still painting in the SoHo studio where he has lived and worked for more than 50 years, with his wife and muse, Ada, to whom he has been married for more than 60 years.
The Whitney is planning a Centennial exhibit in October 2026 of the works of Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997).
Like Alex Katz, Lichtenstein turned from Abstract Expressionism and faced much criticism from the art world.
Lichtenstein studied at the Art Students League in New York and, after a stint in the army, earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Ohio State University, where he was hired as an instructor.
He was a recipient the National Medal of Arts in 1995. The Lichtenstein Foundation has donated, and continues to donate, artworks and monetary funds to museums in the U.S. and abroad.
Please contact us is you would like more information about the works available at VFA.
Happy Holidays to all!
References:
Cathleen McGuigan. Alex Katz is Cooler Than Ever. Smithsonian Magazine. August 2009.
Why Collectors are Turning to Alex Katz Now More Than Ever. Guy Hepner. December 8, 2025.
