The Works of Pablo Picasso and Alex Katz

Pablo Picasso and Alex Katz are both artists who established their own creative paths and their own styles, while others were conforming to the movements of the day.

Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973

Pablo Picasso was groomed to be an artist by his father, who was his first teacher. Picasso was an emotional and thoughtful artist, not afraid to experiment with the ideas that assailed him as he worked.

He was heavily influenced by African sculpture and ancient Iberian art and developed the technique of collage that, in turn, led him to create his cubist works. Picasso also worked with clay, and was able to apply his approach to sculpture and pottery.

Picasso’s influence on other artists, and on the art world, was profound. The Museum of Modern Art has been called “the house that Pablo built,” because it has so often, and widely, exhibited the artist’s work. MoMA’s opening exhibition in 1930 included fifteen paintings by Picasso. We have a variety of works by Picasso, in both print and sculpture, in Surovek Gallery.

Alex Katz, 1927 – present

Like Picasso, Alex Katz was encouraged by his father to pursue a career as an artist. And, like Picasso, Katz didn’t try to emulate the pop and minimalist movements that were popular during the early years of his career.

What Katz did instead, was to evolve a style that uses incredible color combinations and clean lines to create unique portraits, landscapes and sculptures. Katz began to produce cut-out sculptures in 1959. Like his paintings and prints, the sculptures combine simple forms with astonishing color compositions.

Katz is currently having a show at the Fosun Foundation in Shanghai, which will run through August 9, 2020. The Whitney is planning a retrospective of his work in 2022.