(born in Brooklyn/New York in 1927)
Saturday 4, 2001, signed, dated Alex Katz 01, oil on board, 40.6 x 30.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Pace Wildenstein New York (label on the reverse) Private Collection, Germany

“I start with an idea, see something that correlates and then I start, get to the facts and the optics. And that’s when the light comes in.
Alex Katz

Alex Katz’s works look simple and mundane, but the artist uses each of them to take on the challenge of capturing a split-second of a smile or ray or light. For him, the model is no more than a means to an end. The precise colour gradients and distinctive elements of the texture of skin, hair, and fabric were of central importance to the painter.

The same is true of the proportions, surfaces and angles that make a face or a body unique, as is, most of all, its relationship to the light striking it. In this piece, the light is reflected from the yellowy orange fabric and is the main element in the image, while the rest is simply decorative, almost secondary.

Alex Katz was keen to display both the moment and its duration at the same time, while revealing both its uniqueness and banality. For decades, Alex Katz has fascinated us by combining natural beauty, a subject mocked for years, with the inconspicuous snapshot of a moment, charmingly transferring it into the permanence of his paintings.