Artist: Alex Katz
Title: Sunny
Medium: Silkscreen Print on Aluminum Stand
Size: 5"h x 6"w x 1.5"d
Year: 2004
Edition: 62/70
Publisher: Parkett Publishers, Zürich and New York
Printer: Atelier für Siebdruck Lorenz Boegli
Inscription: Signed and numbered on bottom
Documentation: Includes Gallery Certificate of Authenticity
Playful, endearing, and unmistakably Katz, "Sunny" (2004) offers a rare three-dimensional take on the celebrated artist's unmistakable style. This silkscreen on aluminum depicts Sunny, the Katz family's long-haired dog, rendered with the artist's signature economy of line and keen sense of character. With ears that extend off the sides of the image and a tongue playfully sticking out, the work captures the personality of its subject in just a few crisp contours. Measuring just 5 inches tall and 6 inches wide, the sculpture is modest in scale but rich in charm, humor, and formal precision.
Katz has depicted Sunny in numerous works over the years, treating the dog as both muse and character. In "Sunny", Katz pushes the boundaries of his usual portraiture, giving physical dimension to his flat, graphic style by mounting the image upright on a slender aluminum base. The result is a fusion of sculpture and print, where the object functions both as artwork and icon. The image, while whimsical, reflects Katz's lifelong commitment to clarity, presence, and the distilled power of form.
This work was created in a limited edition of 70 and published by Parkett Publishers in Zürich and New York, with printing by Atelier für Siebdruck Lorenz Boegli. The work is signed and numbered by the artist on the base and purchase includes a gallery certificate of authenticity. An edition of "Sunny" is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, a testament to the piece's significance within both Katz's career and the broader field of contemporary printmaking. "Sunny" holds a unique position within Katz's body of work. It stands not only as a portrait of a beloved pet but as an innovative object that collapses the space between image and object, print and sculpture. For collectors and admirers of Katz alike, "Sunny" is a rare and joyful artifact—an artwork that embodies the lightness, elegance, and wit that define the artist's legacy.
About Alex Katz
Alex Katz (b. 1927) is one of the most influential American artists of the postwar era, celebrated for his distinctive approach to portraiture and landscape that helped pave the way for Pop Art while maintaining deep ties to the traditions of Modernism. Over the course of a career spanning more than seven decades, Katz has created a bold and instantly recognizable visual language marked by crisp lines, flat planes of color, and a cool, understated elegance that distills the essence of his subjects.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Katz was raised in Queens and later attended Cooper Union, where he studied painting in the 1940s. After graduating, he continued his training at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, where he was introduced to plein air painting. This early experience would remain foundational throughout his career, influencing both his use of natural light and his lifelong relationship with the Maine landscape.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, Katz developed his signature style—figures and scenes rendered with remarkable clarity and immediacy. At a time when Abstract Expressionism dominated the American art world, Katz chose to work figuratively, often painting friends, family, and fellow artists, especially his wife and muse, Ada Katz, who appears in over 250 of his works. His portraits are notable not only for their elegance and surface beauty but for their ability to capture a fleeting expression, a social pose, or the quiet drama of everyday life.
Katz's work emerged as a significant precursor to Pop Art, particularly in his embrace of commercial aesthetics, cinematic cropping, and bold, graphic presentation. Yet unlike Warhol or Lichtenstein, Katz approached popular culture with restraint, sidestepping irony in favor of directness and human connection. His large-scale portraits, with their flat yet nuanced fields of color, exude both intimacy and detachment, inviting the viewer into a world that is at once personal and formally composed.
Equally significant are Katz's landscapes and cityscapes, which reflect his masterful handling of light, rhythm, and spatial abstraction. These works often depict fleeting moments—dappled light on trees, reflections on water, shadows on snow—with a compositional clarity that heightens their emotional resonance. Whether rendering a face or a field, Katz is a painter of presence, distilling the visual world into its most essential elements.
Throughout his long career, Katz has remained remarkably consistent in his vision while continuing to evolve and influence new generations of artists. His work has been the subject of over 250 solo exhibitions and is held in major public collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Tate Modern.
In addition to painting, Katz has produced an extensive body of work in printmaking, drawing, and cutout sculpture. His experimentation across media demonstrates a restless creativity and a deep engagement with the formal possibilities of image-making.
Now in his nineties, Katz continues to live and work in New York and Lincolnville, Maine. His enduring relevance, elegant economy of means, and unwavering commitment to figuration have secured his place as a towering figure in contemporary art. With each portrait and landscape, Katz invites viewers to slow down and look—really look—at the world and the people in it.
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