(born in Brooklyn/New York in 1927)
John Button & Scott Burton, 1966, signed, dated Alex Katz 66, oil on board, 40.5 x 30.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private Collection, North America
Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York (gallery label on the reverse)
Private Collection, Germany

“I prefer images with a rather less obsessive kind of energy to them. That leads to more style… no extravagance, everything a continuous fabric… My images should never be passionate.”
(Alex Katz 1989)

Alex Katz’s work ignored the trends of the art world from the very beginning: it stands in opposition to the abstraction of his contemporaries such as Pollock or de Kooning. His works are strictly figurative, with colours and shapes clearly separated from one another. His drawings, sketches and oil studies see the basic features of his paintings depicted in exceptional detail. He often introduces figures and motifs, and limits himself to the key elements of his works. Many of his works are portraits of his friends and family. “They are situations from everyday life. The artist can capture these situations in his work in a manner that is generally free from social criticism, violence and exuberance.”
(exhibition catalogue Galerie Eikelmann, Alex Katz, on elephant’s breath, May-June 2012, p. 4)

The oil studies are very different from the paintings that resulted from them, both in terms of their execution and the way in which they were made. As a result, the studies should be viewed as wholly independent works in their own right. This striking difference between small painting and oil painting is also visible in the two works entitled “John Button and Scott Burton”, which is up for auction, and the painting “John & Scott”, from the Frieder Burda Collection in Baden-Baden.

“John Button and Scott Burton were friends from university and worked together as artists. Katz painted their portrait in the mid-1960s, using rapid, confident brushstrokes. The clear colours positioned next to each other and the typical profile of the faces enable Katz to emphasise the element that he viewed as being the most significant: the mood of both artists. One has a twinkle in his eye and a tentative smile; the other has a rather critical gaze. Katz’s small paintings focus on feelings, and amplify these by renouncing secondary aspects. This creates a particular atmosphere in the piece. Small gestures distinguish this series of pieces by the artist, without great pressure for interpretation. The overall impact of the painting is what counts. From close up, they look as if they are being viewed from afar. Alex Katz is on a quest to find natural beauty: something which has been long mocked. These moments are often unremarkable, but he charmingly carries them over into the permanence of his images.”
(ibid., p. 7)

Provenance:
Private Collection, North America
Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York (gallery label on the reverse)
Private Collection, Germany

Alex Katz’s work ignored the trends of the art world from the very beginning: it stands in opposition to the abstraction of his contemporaries such as Pollock or de Kooning. His works are strictly figurative, with colours and shapes clearly separated from one another. His drawings, sketches and oil studies see the basic features of his paintings depicted in exceptional detail. He often introduces figures and motifs, and limits himself to the key elements of his works. Many of his works are portraits of his friends and family. “They are situations from everyday life. The artist can capture these situations in his work in a manner that is generally free from social criticism, violence and exuberance.”
Exhibition Catalogue Galerie Eikelmann, Alex Katz, on elephant’s breath, May-June 2012, p. 4

The oil studies are very different from the paintings that resulted from them, both in terms of their execution and the way in which they were made. As a result, the studies should be viewed as wholly independent works in their own right. This striking difference between small painting and oil painting is also visible in the two works entitled “John Button and Scott Burton”, which is up for auction, and the painting “John & Scott”, from the Frieder Burda Collection in Baden-Baden.

“John Button and Scott Burton were friends from university and worked together as artists. Katz painted their portrait in the mid-1960s, using rapid, confident brushstrokes. The clear colours positioned next to each other and the typical profile of the faces enable Katz to emphasise the element that he viewed as being the most significant: the mood of both artists. One has a twinkle in his eye and a tentative smile; the other has a rather critical gaze. Katz’s small paintings focus on feelings, and amplify these by renouncing secondary aspects. This creates a particular atmosphere in the piece. Small gestures distinguish this series of pieces by the artist, without great pressure for interpretation. The overall impact of the painting is what counts. From close up, they look as if they are being viewed from afar. Alex Katz is on a quest to find natural beauty: something which has been long mocked. These moments are often unremarkable, but he charmingly carries them over into the permanence of his images.”
ibid., p. 7