Alex Katz (b. 1927, American) is renowned
for his large-scale portraits, landscapes, and
flowers. His restrained compositions bear the
trademark of flattened forms, simplification of
detail, and direct paint application. Debuting
a style that opposed abstraction of the 1950s,
he insisted on representational subject matter
and worked alongside artists such as Lois
Dodd, Larry Rivers, as well as poets and writers
Frank O’Hara, James Schuyler, and Edwin
Denby. For nearly seven decades, Katz moved
across genres and devoted a particular focus to
portraiture. Five Women (1977) is characteristic
of the artist’s depiction of groups and gatherings
that he began in the mid-1960s, and, as in
many of his works, includes a portrait of his
wife Ada, who remains his enduring subject
and inspiration.
–Affinities and Outliers: Highlights from the University at Albany Fine Art Collections

–American Playlist: Selections From The University At Albany Art Collections