Alex Katz

Alex Katz is one of the great survivors of a heroic period in American art. He is also one of the great unclassifiables. At various times he has been described both as a Pop artist and as a classic American Realist, though critics admit that he does not fit comfortably into either of these categories. What most people admit, however, is that he reflects and presents aspects of American culture and American landscape in a uniquely skilful and economical way. In his hands certain aspects of American culture and of the American environment have acquired iconic status. His paintings are epigrams about America, uniquely pithy. Paradoxically, they possess this epigrammatic quality even though they exist physically on a very large scale.