Rush
Alex Katz
(American, born in 1927)
1971
Medium/TechniqueOil on aluminum
Credit LineGift of Alex Katz
Accession number2011.91.1-37
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPaintings
Collections
Rush presents 37 portraits of the artists, poets, dancers, critics, and other acquaintances from Katz’s social circle more than forty years ago (many named, but some unremembered). They fully surround us as an “environmental” piece, a scene. Their title comes from his intended experience of the work: that coming face to face with this crowd—some of the great American cultural figures of the last half-century—might result in “rush” of adrenaline. Rather than the essence of a single person, they collectively capture the character of an artistic era.
ProvenanceThe artist; Alex Katz Foundation, New York; 2011, gift of the Foundation to the MFA. (Accession date: March 23, 2011)
Copyright© 2012 Alex Katz/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
