Alex Katz

ALEX KATZ (Brooklyn, New York, 1927)
“Susan,” 1976.
Twelve-color silkscreen on Arches paper, print no. 115/175.
Signed and numbered in pencil.
Printed by Laurence Rosen at Chiron Press, New York.
Published by Alex Rosenberg, Trans World Art, New York.
Measurements: 66 x 49.5 cm (paper); 80 x 63 cm (frame).

Created at a pivotal moment in Alex Katz’s international rise to prominence, *Susan* exemplifies his exploration of the female portrait through sharp profiles, close framing, and a drastic reduction of narrative elements. The figure, shown in profile against a dark gray background, takes on a monumental presence despite the print’s modest size.

Katz constructs the face using broad, flat surfaces, reserving more intense graphic definition for the eye, the eyebrow, and the abundant hair. The hair, rendered with variations of brown and overlapping strokes, introduces a painterly texture that is a hallmark of the work. The gaze directed outside the frame and the slightly parted mouth convey a restrained expression, far removed from both conventional psychological description and anecdotal pose.

The silkscreen print, executed in twelve colors, allows him to transfer to paper the formal clarity and chromatic precision characteristic of his painting. The large close-up and the elimination of the surrounding space reveal the influence of photography, cinema, and contemporary visual culture—references that Katz integrated into an autonomous figurative language distinct from Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art.

Alex Katz’s work is represented in institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; the Tate in London; and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. MoMA holds a comprehensive collection spanning his career and has included his work in numerous exhibitions dedicated to postwar American figurative art.