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San Antonio Museum of Art, Purchased with funds provided by Andrew Novak in honor of Walter F. Brown, Sr.

Alba

San Antonio Museum of Art, Purchased with funds provided by Andrew Novak in honor of Walter F. Brown, Sr.
San Antonio Museum of Art, Purchased with funds provided by Andrew Novak in honor of Walter F. Brown, Sr.
Contact us at copyright@samuseum.org for rights and reproduction of this image. © Alex Katz

Alba

Artist: (American, born 1927)
Date: 1992
Medium: Aquatint
Dimensions:
34 1/2 x 28 in. (87.6 x 71.1 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, Purchased with funds provided by Andrew Novak in honor of Walter F. Brown, Sr.
Object number: 99.30.2
Copyright: © Alex Katz / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Inscribed: Signed and numbered in pencil, lower right: Alex Katz 63/100
Label Text
This portrait is of the wife of painter Francesco Clemente, both of whom were close friends of the Katz’s. Though no mirror is visible, the back of Alba is pictured as if she were standing in front of one. The result is a more complete, though nontraditional, portrait. Alba is seemingly a polished woman; however, the subtle detail of the wisps of hair suggests a looseness not visible in her posture or dress.

Alex Katz is a figurative painter, printmaker, and sculptor known for creating flat, stark portraits of his friends, family, and colleagues. His monochrome backgrounds became a defining characteristic of his style and separated him from more gestural painters and those engaged with hyperrealism.

(Anna Stothart, 2016)
Not on view


The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.