Who Ever Imagined Writing an Essay for Art Class?

“At one level, it is almost vapid, yet how unforgettable are those faces!” (Beckett 233). Even as a young girl glancing through the pages of my mother’s coffee table copy of Sister Wendy’s 1000 Masterpieces, I felt the same attraction to the painting “Ada and Alex” (1980) painted by Alex Katz. I would stare in particular at the face of Ada for minutes on end before leafing through the rest of the book. Something about her face drew me in, the way she was the foreground while Katz’s self-portrait was almost simply a piece of the background. I felt how he almost idolized her, how he understood her, yet was still mystified with this woman he called his own.

Of course, I could just be projecting my own feelings upon this one painting, which was the solitary painting of his that I had seen until yesterday. However, after reading about Katz in Alex Katz A Retrospective, I disagree with the statement I have just made. Throughout the entire 200 page book, Ada’s face and form appeared on every other page; the titles simple, such as “Oval Ada,” “Ada in Water,” or “Ada and Flowers.” Even if the title was different, such as “Blue Umbrella,” Ada’s face comprised the majority of the canvas.

As I studied the works in the rented library book, Alex Katz A Retrospective, my eyes scanned the relatively broad swaths of solid color. Many of the figures, admittedly not all of Ada, most commonly stood against a background of pure, vibrant color. I returned to the revered painting from my childhood, “Ada and Alex,” and noticed the same expanse of color, a deep maroon closely matching Ada’s hair.

Reflecting on my explorations of personal style in class and upon my responses to the readings assigned, particularly of Matisse, I recognized that what possibly drew me to Alex Katz was his style of Perceptual Realism. He let his senses guide him to his perception of reality; not concerned with depicting a photographic image of reality, but of what his own reality expressed. “In… 1951-53, Katz first confronted the problem of painting a modernist figurative picture, that is a picture of a recognizable subject in which the two-dimensionality of the canvas is strongly articulated” (Sandler 10). This aspect of two dimensionality can be seen throughout most of his portraits. “After 1954, Katz relied increasingly on direct perception… [his paintings] are also higher key in color. It appears that the more closely Katz depicted observed reality, the more conscious of the picture plane he became… he often juxtaposed a single planar volume on a single planar space to achieve a new assertiveness and openness of surface” (Sandler 10-12).

After I read these lines, I realized what exactly attracted me to Katz, the idea of Perceptual Realism itself. The art of photography achieves a certain amount of “reality.” One can escape into a photograph and imagine oneself in the plane of “mechanical realism.” While the idea of the objectivity of “mechanical realism” with respect of photography is debated, it goes uncontested that the art of painting is one of subjectivity. Katz recognizes this and paints his reality, not that of the later viewer. Katz invites you to see how he himself feels about his subjects, how he “realize[s] [his] model[s]” as notes Robert Henri.

Katz captures that which I struggle with, how to express my subject while still presenting it as a recognizable object. Further, Katz also possesses the ability to paint his reality in particular; not that of which he feels he is ought to show, but only that of his own perception. As Ada obviously ages through the decades of painting, her beauty and mysteriousness diminishes not, for, as I see it, Alex has not loved her any less, nor understood her any more. 

Beckett, Sister Wendy. Sister Wendy’s 1000 Masterpieces. DK Publishing, NY

Sandler, Irving. Alex Katz A Retrospective. Abrams, Inc., NY

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