"Katz’s portraits are true to the way we experience others. They eloquently convey the tension between the determinate outer appearance and the indeterminate inner reality of someone known only from the outside…For all their everydayness, Katz’s figures have an air of transient strangeness to them, suggesting the mystery of their inner existence, perhaps even to themselves”
A
lluring and tender, Ann from 1982 is a brilliant example of the distinctly stylized and enthralling aesthetic that has established Alex Katz as one of the most influential artists in the arena of contemporary figurative painting. Capturing the essence of its titular figure, Ann, which has remained in the sitter's family's collection since its conception, is a stunning perception of quotidian life, brilliantly showcasing Katz’s ability to transform observed reality into something simultaneously immediate and permanent. Lauded for his intimate portraits, Katz was recently the subject of a major retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York from 2022-23. Works by the artist reside in the collections of esteemed institutions including The Art Institute of Chicago; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; and The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, among others.
Clean, decisive lines and flat planes of color map the contours of Ann’s serene visage and emphasize her distinguishing features, almond-shaped eyes, subtle coral lips, and dark hair chopped above the shoulders, further highlighted by the cropped framing of the image. Katz beautifully renders the details that allude to the personality of the sitter without explicitly revealing the nature of his enigmatic muse. Specific attention is given to Ann’s fashion, a quality that distinguishes Katz’s pictures from the 1980s. Her garment, a black top enlivened with swooping birds in orange, magenta, and blue, is a dynamic counterpoint to the otherwise subdued palette, and the gold disc earrings adorning her provide a vibrant focal point. This juxtaposition of the subject's composed expression with the visual excitement of her clothing exemplifies Katz's genius for balancing stillness and energy within a single composition. Depicting its muse in the artist’s singular mode of realism, Ann epitomizes Katz’s unparalleled ability to capture the inherent qualities of the sitter. A stunning perception of everyday life, Ann does not look to create a narrative, but rather a sense of wonder and intrigue, allowing the inscrutable nature of the subject to shine through.
Right: Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1665. Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague
Born in Brooklyn in 1927, Alex Katz came of age as an artist during the heyday of Modernism and the New York School. Katz studied at The Cooper Union and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, where he began developing figuration as the primary focus of his practice. Rebelling against Abstract Expressionism and its preference for impassioned gesture, Katz embraced flattened, polished scenes produced through considerable pictorial distillation. His formal reduction allowed him to translate the realities of lived experience with stunning immediacy. Reducing perspective, eliminating extraneous detail and sharpening contours, Katz created a definitive and idiosyncratic method of painting that speaks to the history of portraiture and the figure in art. Through his highly individualized mode of realism, Katz fosters a palpable intimacy and sense of nostalgia. The effect, as art critic Donald Kuspit describes, is that Katz’s portraits “are true to the way we experience others. They eloquently convey the tension between the determinate outer appearance and the indeterminate inner reality of someone known only from the outside…For all their everydayness, Katz’s figures have an air of transient strangeness to them, suggesting the mystery of their inner existence, perhaps even to themselves” (Donald Kuspit, Alex Katz Night Paintings, New York 1991, p. 8).
“I like to make an image that is so simple you can’t avoid it, and so complicated you can’t figure it out.”
Imbued with an austere yet entrancing sentimentality, Ann is a compelling testament to the enduring allure of Katz’s singular style, revealing the spirit of its subject in the artist’s signature chromatic, reductive style. “People say painting is real and abstract,” the artist observed. “Everything in paint that’s representation is false because it’s not representational, it’s paint. We speak different languages and have different syntax. The way I paint, realistic is out of abstract painting as opposed to abstract style. So I use a line, a form and a color. So my contention is that my paintings are as realistic as Rembrandt’s…it was realistic painting in its time. It’s no longer a realistic painting. Realism’s a variable. For an artist, this is the highest thing an artist can do—to make something that’s real for his time, where he lives.” (Alex Katz quoted in David Sylvester, “Interview with Alex Katz,” Alex Katz, 15-16 March 1997 (online)). Rejecting both sentimentality and excessive detail, Ann instead creates a powerful presence that commands attention through its clarity and directness.
