Alex Katz
PURPLE HAT (ADA), 2017
Archival pigment inks on crane museo max 365 gsm fine art paper
Edition of 125
46 x 21 in
116.8 x 53.3 cm
Available at Surovek Gallery
Alex Katz was born and raised in New York. He has lived and worked in his SoHo home and studio since 1968. Like many New Yorkers, Katz has left the city every summer to enjoy the beauty, breezes and serenity of the country.
Katz’s summer home is in Lincolnville, Maine. He first traveled to Maine on a scholarship with the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1949. Katz found the magnificent Maine scenery and light inspiring, and, in 1954, he bought a farmhouse in Lincolnville, where he has been spending every summer since.
Many of his portraits are of his family and friends during summer holidays in Lincolnville. His wife, Ada, whom he married in 1958, and their son, Vincent, who was born in 1960, have appeared in many of his portraits (Ada has been the subject of about 1,000 of Katz’s paintings). The lush landscape around the Lincolnville farm continues to be a source of inspiration for Katz, although he paints most of his large landscapes when he returns home to SoHo.
Katz has shown his appreciation for Maine by donating artworks and funds to local art institutions. Through his foundation, whose mission is to support the work of emerging and underrecognized artists, Katz has donated more than 150 works to the Portland Museum of Art. An exhibit of those donated works is being planned for next summer.
HIs first solo exhibit at MoMA: Alex Katz: Seasons is on display at MoMA through September 8, 2024. A solo exhibit of Katz’s work is currently on display at Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice and will run through September 29, 2024.
An upcoming exhibit: Alex Katz: Theater and Dance will be on exhibit at the Baker Museum in Naples, Florida from October 12, 2024 through February 2, 2025.
Connecticut-based artist Eric Forstmann (b.1962) is a realist painter, whose focus is on everyday objects and plein-air landscapes.
“I work from my surroundings,” Forstmann said, “using the found objects and views that catch my eye or challenge me to learn and experience anew.”
Forstmann creates still-lifes in his studio and his landscapes from a van that he has turned into a mobile studio.
Eric Forstmann serves as President of the Board of Directors for the Five Points Center for the Visual Arts in Torrington, Connecticut.
References:
Maya Pontone. Alex Katz’s Love Affair With Maine. Hyperallergic. June 20, 2024.
Amanda Fortini. Alex Katz Is Still Perfecting His Craft. The New York Times/Style Magazine. August 18, 2022.
