Nasce a New York nel 1927, figlio di emigranti russi in fuga dalla Rivoluzione bolscevica. Si forma alla Cooper Union di New York e alla Skowhean School of Painting and Sculpture nel Maine. La produzione di Katz è improntata nel genere del paesaggio e del ritratto. Dagli anni ’60 dipinge vedute di New York, paesaggi del Maine dove trascorre diversi mesi ogni anno, nonché ritratti di familiari (tra cui la moglie Ada alla quale dedica oltre 200 ritratti nel corso della sua carriera) e protagonisti della società newyorkese. All’inizio degli anni ’60, influenzato da film, televisione e pubblicità inizia la produzione di dipinti su larga scala.

SELEZIONE ESPOSIZIONI PERSONALI

1954
New York, Roko Gallery, Alex Katz: Paintings

1957
New York, Roko Gallery, Alex Katz: Paintings

1959
New York, Tanager Gallery, Alex Katz

1960
New York, Stable Gallery, Alex Katz

1962
New York, Tanager Gallery, Alex Katz: Flat Statues
New York, Martha Jackson Gallery, Alex Katz: The Set for ‘George Washington Crossing the Delaware’

1964
New York, Fischbach Gallery, Alex Katz

1965
New York, Fischbach Gallery, Alex Katz: Cut-outs 1955-65

1966
Los Angeles, David Stuart Gallery, Alex Katz

1969
Chicago, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Alex Katz

1971
Colonia, Galerie Thelen, Alex Katz
Salt Lake City, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, University of Utah (itinerante), Alex Katz
Hannover, Galerie Brusberg, Alex Katz
New York, Fischbach Gallery, Alex Katz: Cut-outs

1973
Helsinki, Assa Galleria, The American Neo-Realist: Alex Katz
New York, Marlborough Gallery, Alex Katz

1974
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art (itinerante), Alex Katz Prints
Toronto, Marlborough Godard Gallery, Alex Katz

1975
Londra, Marlborough Fine Art, Alex Katz
New York, Marlborough Gallery Inc., Alex Katz: Exhibition of Graphics 1972-75
Copenaghen, galerie Arnesen, New York, Fischbach Gallery, Alex Katz

1977
Fresno, Fresno Arts Center and Museum, New York, Fischbach Gallery, Alex Katz: Recent Paintings
Zurigo, Marlborough Galerie AG, Alex Katz

1979
New York, Robert Miller Gallery, Alex Katz: Cutouts
Philadelphia, Benjamin Mangel Gallery, Alex Katz: Cutouts

1980
Bogota, Centro Colombo-Americano, Alex Katz: Prints
Toronto, Mira Godard Gallery, Alex Katz
New York, The Queens Museum, Alex Katz: Scale and Gesture
New York, Marlborough Gallery, Alex Katz

1981
Cincinnati, Contemporary Arts Center, Alex Katz: Paintings and Drawings 1959-79
New York, Robert Miller Gallery, Alex Katz: 1957-59
Alabama, Birmingham Museum of Art, Alex Katz

1982
Londra, Marlborough Fine Art, Alex Katz: Recent Paintings
New York, Marlborough Gallery, Alex Katz Drawings 1944-81
Chicago, Hokin Gallery, Alex Katz: Cut-outs

1984
New York, Robert Miller Gallery, Alex Katz: Small Paintings from the 1950’s to the Present
Los Angeles, Asher/Faure Gallery, Alex Katz: Paintings

1985
Tokyo, Marlborough Fine Art, Alex Katz
Boston, Mario Diacono Gallery, Alex Katz: Twelve Hours

1986
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Retrospective exhibition
New York, Marlborough Gallery, Recent Paintings
San Francisco, Erika Meyerovich Gallery, Alex Katz: Recent Paintings

1987
Colonia, Galerie Inge Baecker, Alex Katz

1988
Tokyo, The Seibu Museum of Art, The SeedParigi, Hall, Alex Katz
New York, The Brooklyn Museum, Alex Katz: A Print Retrospective
Parigi, Galerie Daniel Templon, Alex Katz
Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Alex Katz: Nocturnal Paintings

1990
Modena, Galleria Emilio Mazzoli, Alex Katz
Los Angeles, Michael Kohn Gallery, Alex Katz: New Paintings
Florida, Orlando Museum of Art, Alex Katz: Paintings, Drawings and Cutouts
Londra, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Alex Katz: Recent Paintings

1991
Honolulu, Contemporary Museum, Alex Katz: Small Paintings

1993
New York, Marlborough Gallery, Alex Katz: Paintings
Santa Fe, Allene Lapides Gallery, Alex Katz

1994
Madrid, Galeria Marlborough, Alex Katz
New York, Robert Miller Gallery, Alex Katz: Landscapes 1954-1956

1995
Baden-Baden, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Alex Katz: American Landscape

1996
Waterville, Colby College Museum of Art, Alex Katz at Colby College
Baltimora, Baltimore Museum of Art (itinerante), Alex Katz Under the Stars: Landscapes 1951-1995
New York, Marlborough Gallery, Alex Katz: Recent Paintings
New York, Peter Blum, Alex Katz: Dawn

1998
Londra, The Saatchi Collection, Alex Katz: Twenty Five Years of Painting
Berlino, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Alex Katz New Works
Buenos Aires, Centro Cultural Recoleta, Alex Katz
Zurigo, Kusnatcht-Zurich, Thamm Gallerie, Alex Katz

1999
Francoforte, Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Change of Scene
Trento, Galleria Civica di Arte Contemporanea, Alex Katz

2000
Chicago, Arts Club of Chicago, Alex Katz
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art, Regarding Alex Katz
Colonia, Jablonka Galerie, Paintings of the 60’s

2001
Modena, Galleria Emilio Mazzoli, Alex Katz
Berlino, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Alex Katz
Venezia, Galeria Monica de Cardenas, Alex Katz

2002
Andover, Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy (itinerante), Alex Katz: Small Paintings
Londra, Timothy Taylor Gallery, Alex Katz - Small Paintings

2003
Amburgo, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Alex Katz: Cotouts
Venezia, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Alex Katz: Portraits
Klagenfurt, Museum Moderner Kunst Kirnten, Alex Katz: Cutouts
New York, PaceWildenstein, Alex Katz: Flowers and Landscapes

2004
Colonia, Galerie Jablonka, Alex Katz
Mosca, Stella Gallery, Alex Katz
Vienna, Albertina Museum, Alex Katz: Cartoons and Paintings

2005
Malaga, CAC Malaga, Alex Katz: Recent Paintings
New York, Peter Blum Gallery, Alex Katz “First Sight”: Working Drawings from 1965-2002
Milano, Monica De Cardenas, Alex Katz

2006
Houston, Texas Gallery, Alex Katz
New York, The Jewish Museum, Alex Katz Paints Ada, 1957-2005

2007
Dublino, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Alex Katz: New York
Barcellona, Galeria Toni Tàpies, Paintings Studies Cartoons

2009
Tampere, Sara Hildén Art Museum (itinerante), Alex Katz: An American Way of Seeing
New York, PaceWildenstein, Alex Katz: Fifteen Minutes

2010
Londra, National Portrait Gallery, Alex Katz Portraits
Vienna, Albertina, Alex Katz Prints
Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Alex Katz

2011
Dortmund, Museum Ostwall, Alex Katz
New York, Gavin Brown’s enterprise, Alex Katz
Parigi, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Alex Katz: Face the Music

2012
Boston, Museum of Fine Art, Alex Katz Prints
Vienna, Essl Museum, Alex Katz
New York, Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, Alex Katz

2013
Zurigo, Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Alex Katz: Landscape
New York, Peter Bloom Gallery, Alex Katz: Small Paintings 1987-2013
Salisburgo, Museum der Moderne, Alex Katz: New York/Maine

2014
Londra, Timothy Taylor Gallery, Alex Katz: 70s/80s/90s
New York, Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, Alex Katz

2015
Atlanta, High Museum of Art, Alex Katz: This is Now
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Alex Katz at the Met
Bilbao, Guggenheim, Alex Katz: This is Now

2016
Chicago, Richard Gray Gallery, Present Tense: Sixty Years of Master Drawings
Londra, Serpentine Gallery, Alex Katz: Quick Light
Milano, Galleria Monica De Cardenas, Alex Katz: Small Paintings and Drawings, 1990 - 2016

2017
Tampa, Tampa Museum of Art, Alex Katz: Black and White
Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Brand-New & Terrific: Alex Katz in the 1950s
New York, Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, Alex Katz Cut Outs: 1950s-1980s

2018
Liverpool, Tate Liverpool, Artist rooms: Alex Katz
Monaco, Museum Brandhorst, Alex Katz

2019
Parigi, Musee de l’Orangerie, Contemporary Counterpoint / Alex Katz. Water Lilies - Homage to Monet series, 2019-2010
Dallas, Dallas Museum of Art, Focus on: Alex Katz

2020
Shanghai, Fosun Foundation, Alex Katz
Londra, Thimothy Taylor Gallery, Alex Katz

SELEZIONE ESPOSIZIONI COLLETTIVE

1964
New York, Museum of Modern Art, Recent Landscapes by Eight Americans

2000
New York, Cheim and Read, Couples

2001
Roma, American Academy in Rome, Alex Katz, Ed Rusha

2010
Bruge, Luc Tuymans: A Vision of Central Europe

2012
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years
New York, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, We The People
New Yrok, Sperone Westwater, Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies Lee Kimche McGrath Original Print Collection

2013
New York, DC Moore Gallery, Wooks, Lovely, Dark and Deeo
New York, Loretta Howard Gallery, John Ashbery Collects: John Ashbery Collects: Poet Among This

2014
Washington, The National Portrait Gallery, Face Value
Ostende, Mu.ZEE, The Sea

2018
Zuoz, Galleria Monica Cardenas, Franz Gertsch, Alex Katz, Billy Childish
Vienna, Leopold Museum, Wow! The Heidi Horton Collection

2019
Parigi, Louis Vuitton Foundation, The Collection of the Fondation: a vision for painting
Rockland, Farnsworth Art Museum, Slab City Rendevous