Brand-New and Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s

Tuite (Katz curator, Colby Coll. Museum of Art) highlights representative art chosen from the museum's collection of more than 800 works by Alex Katz (b. 1927). Three essays by art professionals from various institutions are also included in this appealing book. Katz, a contemporary of Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol, went against the grain and developed his own style of portraiture and landscape that blended abstract expressionism and a flatness and scale that showed influences as diverse as Civil War photographs by Matthew Brady, portraits by Arshile Gorky, the colors used by Henri Matisse, and the atmosphere of Mark Rothko. His earlier portraits were often painted from vintage domestic photographs. Katz is known for both his paintings and cutouts portraying his wife and muse, Ada, as well as Maine landscapes, domestic interiors, bright colors, repetition, and the portrayal of figures against a solid background.