For over six decades Alex Katz has been inspired by all kinds of flowers, transforming wind-blown tiger lilies, marigolds, roses and petunias into iconic Pop Art works. This has resulted in important works such as Springflowers, Wildflowers, Yellow Flags 3, Blue Flags and Summer Flowers. In the 1950s, Katz was frustrated that his portraits lacked a sense of movement, so he began painting the wildflowers he discovered near his summer home in Maine. “When I painted the first groups of figures, The Cocktail Party and Lawn Party, I felt like they weren’t moving enough,” he said of this moment of inspiration. “And that’s one of the reasons I did the big flower pictures.” Over time, Katz’s floral representations became more vivid and vivid, often with stems growing in all directions, petals flying through the air in cascades, and leaves scattered throughout the composition. “You can’t look at one thing for a long time, the eye moves everywhere and in constant motion,” he explained. At a remarkable 180 cm in length, Katz’s Red Tulips (1967) is one of the artist’s top auction records and sold for $690,600 at Sotheby’s in 2007.

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 the spring of 2022 Alex Katz new graphic edition – The Flowers Portfolio was released. The portfolio includes the works Red Dogwood, Purple Tulips, Peonies, Goldenrod and Azaleas on Yellow. All of those Alex Katz prints are available for sale.

In 2023 four new Flowers were published: Yellow Flags and Purple Irises.