The hottest grandfather in America right now is probably Alex Katz. Even at the age of 95 or older, he does more than 300 push-ups and sit-ups every day, which makes sense to some extent that he has been working on his work so far. At some point, his name was frequently mentioned in the art world, and his work became popular here and there, like a rising star, while setting his record at the auction. It is so popular that Alex Katz's works always appear on the main screen in commercial galleries and online markets.
Alex Katz painted with his own beliefs, but for many years, he had been treated as a b-class artist who had fallen out of the art philosophy. His colleagues Cy Twombly and Jasper Jones had a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of Art at the recommendation of his famous painter friends in 1986, long after they had already become figures in art history. But even then, the market's response was cold. He then began painting landscapes instead of portraits. Of course, it wasn't the first time I painted a landscape at that time. Before his portrait style took hold, he enjoyed painting New York's subway and neighborhood scenery, including figures. And since the 1950s, more than 1,000 paintings have been thrown into the fireplace, burned, and entirely focused on portrait painting, and from then on, the current style of painting began to take root. Looking at the scenery again after a retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum of Art in 1986, it seems that the paintings that were burned in the youth were recalled.
What's more surprising is that 400 works were donated to the Colby Museum of Art in Maine, and after that, the museum has so many pieces that it has more than 900 works. In addition, most of the works currently in circulation are edition works. Usually, when an artist becomes famous, he buys prints because the price of his work is too high, but there is a slight difference in Alex Katz's case. The print itself is produced almost like an original work, and the number of editions is significantly small. In addition, unlike other prints, the size is huge. Most of the original works are in the museum or owned by the artist, so ordinary collectors will have no choice but to collect prints. Compared to the large amount of work, the amount of won in circulation in the market is significantly small.
This Guggenheim retrospective is an exhibition where you can also see Alex Katz's early works and non-conceived works. Due to the nature of the architectural structure of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, you can naturally see his history downstairs along the curve, and it was so precious to see his early works that had not been out of the world. His current painting style is characterized by dull, emotionless expressions that would appear on billboards, and his early works used warm and cute expression techniques. The present pale face represented the people of New York, where he lived, and he captured his beloved wife, friends, and acquaintances on a canvas to capture their history. Because of that, his work is considered to represent American history.
If you want to enjoy the retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, let's go to YouTube TV - Art Investment to Rich. The exhibition runs until February 20, 2023.