Striking Alex Katz Portraits Made Over the Span of 20 Years Are on View in a Recently Reopened Gallery in Germany

Artnet Gallery Network April 24, 2020 ShareShare This Article

We’re all longing for the world to go back to normal, so it’s welcome news that German galleries are slowly (and cautiously) reopening their doors.

Among the first smattering of galleries to reopen is Cologne’s Galerie Boisserée. The gallery’s long-planned exhibition, “TIMELESS,” an extensive show of portraits by the American artist Alex Katz (b. 1927), will finally be seeing the light of day.

The show is a look at 20 years’ worth of the artist’s “cool-style” portraits, represented in the show through prints, drawings, and cut-outs.

Installation view of “Alex Katz” 2020. Courtesy of Galerie Boisserée.

Some of his most recognizable portraits are on view, including his cinematic 1972 Blue Umbrella I, depicting his muse and wife, Ada, under an umbrella with a dramatic red scarf covering her hair. Images of ballet dancers and whimsical cut-outs abound, along with a selection of Katz’s decidedly cheerful landscapes and botanical works, which, the gallery says, “define his oeuvre as much as the portraits.”

The gallery imagines the show as a reprieve from the news cycle. “The longing for art, culture, and some normality is growing daily, so we are very happy to open the gallery again,” the gallery says in a statement.

See more images from “TIMELESS” below.