Double Ada is an elaborate silkscreen print created using 26 colors. Alex Katz’s deep relationship with his wife and muse Ada is beautifully documented in the more than two thousand portraits he has created since they met in 1957 and married just three months later. His portraits of Ada are always characterized by a certain degree of idealization and generalization, with her striking personality defined by a unique aesthetic that can be described as both cheerful and introspective.

The artwork was exhibited as a key piece in Katz’s major Guggenheim retrospective “Alex Katz: Gathering” in 2022, cementing its status as one of his most important works. This edition, created in collaboration with the Guggenheim Museum to raise funds for the museum, is the first limited edition of this painting. Despite the high print run of 200 copies, the edition sold out at the artist’s studio within a few days. Frank Fluegel Gallery is able to offer a few select copies.

The reason for the popularity of this graphic may also lie in the turquoise background. Around 1845, world-famous jeweler Charles Lewis Tiffany chose a mixture of bright green with a hint of blue as the official color for his jewelry line and packaging. Over time, and with the ever-growing popularity of Tiffany & Co., these little blue boxes became iconic and were given the name Tiffany blue. Recently, luxury items such as Rolex and Patek Philippe watches have fetched astronomical prices at auction, provided the dial was designed in the signature Tiffany blue.

It is remarkable that Ada Katz, who has been married to the artist for 65 years, has become such an integral part of his artistic work that she is immediately recognizable to viewers who have walked through the retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum. Even though she has her back to us and is depicted with just a few brushstrokes without color, we still feel like we know her. Sometimes visitors began their exploration of the exhibition in this gallery after taking the elevator to the top floor, then working their way down in a spiral through the rotunda. These visitors often described this work as depicting an abstract form, such as a flower blooming out of a dark pond. However, those who worked their way up from the floor of the rotunda, meandering through Katz’s extensive oeuvre, knew that the brushstrokes undeniably represented Ada. While viewing the various Ada and Double Ada works by Alex Katz, one can reflect on what it means to study someone for so long as they age, change, and grow.

Alex Katz / Pioneer of Pop Art

Alex Katz is especially famous for his figurative paintings: The son of Russian Jewish immigrants, he was born in New York in 1927. As a pioneer of Pop Art, he always concentrated on the essentials and early on, he dealt with simplified forms and contrasting color compositions. His art is diverse, but always has beauty as its central theme. The artist can now look back on more than 200 solo and around 500 group exhibitions; his diverse works are part of over 100 collections worldwide. Alex Katz lives and works in New York and Maine.

In 2026, an Alex Katz exhibition will be on display in Germany again for the first time in a long while: 2026 Alex Katz – Dancing with Reality, Kunsthalle Tübingen, March 28, 2026 – September 13, 2026