The yellow flags (or irises) are shown here in the floral style characteristic of Alex Katz – petals appear as yellow splashes between broad, intersecting strokes of blue-green stems, all superimposed on a vivid pink, not to say pink, background. By combining formal aspects of abstraction and representation, Katz makes each composition appear both as an intimate still life and as an enveloping landscape which, as the author and critic Calvin Tompkins describes, “lets us see the world as he sees it, clearly and up close, leaving out all but the most essential details”.
Alex Katz has a pronounced interest in nature, having spent his summer months in Maine for years, where he created many famous works such as the Wildflowers, Yellow Flags, Summerflowers and Spring Flowers.

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 began to explore 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.