Autumn 4 is an original graphic by the American artist Alex Katz. The oil painting after which this print was created was part of an exhibition at Gray Gallery in Chicago in the fall of 2023. Autumn was the artist’s tenth solo exhibition at Gray Gallery and the first exhibition of large-scale landscapes since 2018, following his highly acclaimed retrospective “Gathering”, which opened at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in the fall of 2022.

One might be surprised by the untethered rapture of the landscape paintings that have consumed much of Alex Katz’s still considerable energy in recent years. But these works are in fact the culmination of a lifelong artistic project that strives to compress everything into “a single burst of energy … to paint it wide open. Alex Katz has painted figures and landscapes in equal measure throughout his career. Autumn 4 is done on a large scale and in vivid color. “I started looking at the landscapes as an environment that surrounds you,” says Katz. “There is no narrative. You’re dealing with perception.” On eleven monumental canvases, Katz showed the glowing foliage, the vast fields and the wind-blown trees as they changed with the seasons.

Katz’s Autumn series, created between 2022 and 2023, focuses on a vibrant autumn palette, while other paintings in the exhibition, from the related Field’s End and Tree Top series, show calmer responses to the landscape in muted shades of green, yellow and gray.

In the masterful hands of acclaimed artist Alex Katz, the canvas transforms into a breathtaking ode to the autumnal splendor in the form of “Autumn 4.” This original print captures the essence of fall with a singular focus on a majestic tree adorned with leaves ablaze in hues of yellow, orange, and red, set against a canvas of radiant blue sky.

Katz, known for his distinctive approach to contemporary realism, employs a unique blend of simplicity and sophistication in “Autumn 4.” The tree takes center stage, its branches gracefully reaching outwards like the fingers of nature, each leaf meticulously rendered with a precision that defines Katz’s signature style. The leaves, a vibrant palette of warm tones, seem to dance in harmony, creating a visual symphony that resonates with the spirit of the season.

What sets “Autumn 4” apart is Katz’s masterful play of color. The golden yellows, fiery oranges, and deep reds of the leaves are a testament to his ability to capture the fleeting beauty of fall. The colors are not just pigments on canvas; they are a celebration of the ephemeral nature of time, as autumn leaves are destined to fall, creating a mesmerizing carpet beneath the tree.

Against this explosion of autumnal brilliance, the sky serves as a striking backdrop. Katz chooses a bright blue that not only contrasts with the warm tones of the leaves but also infuses the composition with a sense of clarity and tranquility. The blue sky becomes a metaphorical canvas, framing nature’s masterpiece and highlighting the fleeting beauty of the changing seasons.

“Autumn 4” is a testament to Katz’s ability to distill complex scenes into their most essential elements while retaining a profound emotional impact. The print invites viewers to immerse themselves in the beauty of fall, to feel the crispness in the air, and to witness the tree standing as a silent witness to the cyclical nature of life.

In this original print, Alex Katz not only captures the essence of autumn but also invites us to pause, reflect, and appreciate the transient beauty that surrounds us—a timeless celebration of nature’s grandeur that resonates long after the leaves have fallen. Autumn 4 is the origin of an entire series of editions of the same name, all of which will be re-released in 2024.

Alex Katz is particularly 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 explored simplified forms and high-contrast color composition early on. 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.