Alex Katz
Chance, 2016
30-color silkscreen on Saunders Waterford 425 gsm paper
70 × 46 in | 177.8 × 116.8 cm
Edition of 50
Available at VFA
We are pleased to present Chance, 2016, a rare triptych by Alex Katz, one of America’s finest artists.
The large, 30-color silkscreen, showcases his talent as a figurative artist and printmaker.
Katz celebrated his 99th birthday last month. He has spent more than 75 years creating works of the people and places close to him.
When other artists were jumping on the abstract and Pop bandwagons, Katz remained true to his passion of figurative and landscape works.
In 1965, Katz began printmaking. The Albertina in Vienna and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, hold complete collections of Katz's print oeuvre. The Albertina released a print catalogue raisonné in 2011.
Katz was born in Brooklyn on July 24, 1927. He attended Cooper Union and then attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, which led him to paint plein-air in addition to his figurative works. He has spent summers at his home and studio in Lincolnville, Maine for more than six decades, which has led to a close relationship with the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine. The museum has built a wing dedicated solely to the works of Alex Katz.
Katz has gotten much deserved recognition recently, with a spectacular retrospective titled Alex Katz: Gathering at the Guggenheim and the National Medal of Arts in 2023.
Katz has quietly, and without fanfare, had a huge impact on the careers of younger, contemporary artists. He has purchased the works of many artists and donated them to museums and art institutions around the world.
An upcoming solo exhibit of his work will open at the Musee Matisse in Nice in October and his work will be part of group exhibits at Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris in October, which will then travel to the Musée de Grenoble in March 2027.
Alex Katz lives and works in the SoHo building that he bought with other artists in 1968.
References:
James Tarmy. Alex Katz’s Quiet Philanthropy Has Made a Huge Impact. Bloomberg News. November 2023.
