Alex Katz: This Is Now

3/5 ( ratings)

A handsomely illustrated look at the landscape paintings of a contemporary American master

Over the course of a seven-decade career, American artist Alex Katz has conveyed his singular vision of the world through paintings that fuse realism and abstraction, allowing details to dissolve into bold swaths of color. Though perhaps best known for his portraits, Katz has consistently painted the natural world throughout his career, particularly over the past decade. This beautiful publication takes a fresh look at his landscape paintings through the themes of nature, perception, the passage of time, and contemporary notions of the sublime. These works reveal the American painter’s virtuosic control of materials and the absolute clarity and power of his vision, made evident by stripping away unnecessary information to capture the essence of his subjects. Featuring works of art from the 1950s to today, Alex Katz, This Is Now is the most extensive look at Katz’s treatment of landscape in nearly 20 years. The book includes essays by curator Michael Rooks, art critic Margaret Graham, and David Salle—an artist whose own work is influenced by Katz—and poems by John Godfrey and Vincent Katz, who is an art critic as well as the artist's son, providing a timely and important new assessment of the work of this renowned artist.