Kym is a woodcut by the American artist Alex Katz from 2011. The print was made after the corresponding oil painting, which is in the permanent collection of the Albertina in Vienna. It comes from the Batliner Collection. The deep blue background of the work, also referred to by many as “Yves Klein blue”, is striking. The bright ultramarine blue preferred by Yves Klein – which he referred to as International Klein Blue (IKB) – suggests infinite depth with its matt, velvety texture. Kym is a young woman from Alex Katz’s personal circle in Maine, where he spends his summers. There is an entire cycle of works with various portraits of Kym in other colors and formats as well.

Alex Katz – Pioneer of Pop Art

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.