Alex Katz is one of the foremost representatives of American painting in the international art world. In New York in the 1950s, his large-format, stencil-like portraits and landscapes set a striking counterpoint to abstract expressionism. Katz developed a signature pictorial language early on, characterized by outlined forms, clear colors, and flatness influenced by the imagery of the cinema, advertising, and fashion. The catalog presents for the first time an overview of Katz’ nude paintings from three decades and recent work and is released to coincide with the eighty-fifth birthday of the artist.

Viet Görner is the director and Kathrin Meyer is the curator at museum kestnergesellschaft Hannover, Germany.