Alex Katz

Penobscot

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About this artwork

This is one of a series of paintings from the late 1990s exploring the sparkling summer light of the Penobscot, Maine coastline. Katz painted these beach scenes 'en plein air' at both sunrise and sunset. Although based in New York, he has been painting the American landscape since the 1950s, often inspired by summers spent in Maine. Katz is well-known for his large paintings, whose bold simplicity and unmodulated colours are now seen as precursors of Pop Art. Small oil paintings such as this one are sketched from life and often intended to be scaled up into larger works, but their economic execution and visible brushstrokes reveal an intimate side to his practice. He says, "A sketch is very direct. It is working empirically, inside of an idea."

Updated before 2020

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  • artist:
    Alex Katz (born 1927) American
  • title:
    Penobscot
  • date created:
    1999
  • materials:
    Oil paint on board
  • measurements:
    22.90 x 30.50 x 0.40 cm; Framed: 24.90 x 32.30 x 3.40 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund, 2008
  • accession number:
    AR00015
  • gallery:
  • artwork photographed by:
    Antonia Reeve
This artwork is part of Artist Rooms
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Alex Katz

Alex Katz