ALEX KATZ
A LIVING LEGEND

With a career that’s spanned over seven decades, Alex Katz has become the living legend of contemporary portraiture—a true icon whose work pops with color, style, and an uncanny ability to capture the fleeting magic of life. Whether he’s sketching the subtle gestures of a dancer or splashing trees in bold hues, Katz is always in the moment, always looking for that spark that makes the ordinary extraordinary.

Katz wasn’t born in a gallery—he was born in Queens, raised by Russian émigré parents who had an unspoken rule: art was everywhere. Poetry, theater, and creativity ran deep in the family’s veins. His early years? A foundation for the larger-than-life color and energy that would define his work. Fast forward to the 1960s, and Katz’s world took a big turn when he teamed up with Paul Taylor, the groundbreaking choreographer, to design sets and costumes for his dances. Suddenly, Katz found himself learning about scale, gesture, and the way humans move through space—a game-changer for his artistic evolution.

“I learned a lot doing sets and costumes in terms of scale. I learned a lot from Paul in terms of gestures and relationships between people. I learned from Paul that all your pieces don’t have to be the same. I learned from Paul never to be complacent towards the public. I learned a lot from Paul in terms of styling ideas. I learned a lot from Paul that the one person you don’t want to bore is yourself.”

In other words, Paul Taylor showed Katz that art was more than just what you see—it was how you felt it. And Katz hasn’t stopped feeling it since.

A Career That’s All About The Now

As Katz’s career unfolded, so did his voice—becoming synonymous with cool, contemporary portraits that feel like they’ve been pulled straight out of New York’s vibrant energy. From lush prints to dramatic silkscreens, Katz’s work embraces everything from gesture and expression to the simple, stunning beauty of the present moment. As he’s gotten older, his art has shifted from literal to sensory: more about what he feels than what he sees.

“As I got older, I started to paint a sensation of what I was seeing, and so it’s more generalized. And that’s been successful.”

Recent Work: Seasons, Nature’s Colors, and Life in Full Bloom

Katz’s latest exhibition, Seasons, at MoMA, is nothing short of a love letter to nature’s cyclical beauty. His four new works focus on trees through the changing seasons, showing us how life transforms with color, light, and form. These pieces break all the rules—they’re not about horizon lines or realistic perspective. Instead, they are an explosion of color, an invitation to experience nature without the traditional boundaries. It’s pure Katz: bold, refreshing, and deeply attuned to the present.

Katz’s work shatters conventional rules—it’s not about horizon lines or realistic perspective. Instead, it’s an explosion of color, an invitation to experience nature without the usual boundaries. It’s pure Katz: bold, refreshing, and deeply attuned to the present.


His art isn’t just about creating something beautiful; it’s about diving deep into the richness of right now. Katz doesn’t strive for the “perfect” masterpiece; he aims for the authentic, the immediate, the feeling of the moment. And that’s where the magic lies.


“Making a great painting for all times is a terrible idea, really. But dealing with the immediate present, it’s scary, but it’s plausible.”


Katz’s paintings are snapshots of the world as it truly is—alive with color, energy, and truth. At 97, he’s still painting with the energy, curiosity, and freshness of an artist much younger. His work continues to invite us to stop, look, and feel the world as it is—not perfect, not posed, but real. And that’s why we can’t stop looking.