ArtistsNetwork.com 47like that in painting. Or I’d see the
images on a small TV set where they’d
crop right into an image, pushing it
out into the room. And then I liked
the romance of billboards.”
Apart from these formal innova-
tions, Katz was also interested in
changing the way in which people
engaged with the content of a paint-
ing. The abstract expressionists,
who had dominated New York art in
the 1950s, talked a great deal about
the psychological impact of their
painterly imagery. Katz had a much
different sense of what might make
a painting interesting. Much of his
early work concentrated on portrai-
ture. “I was interested in making a
nonpsychological portrait,” he says.
“It was the era of psychology, and
everyone was interested in Freud.
I have no time for Freud.” Instead the
artist focused on appearances, endow-
ing his figures with a light and stylish
outer shell (see Ted Berrigan, page 45).
“People think that appearance is a
given,” he says, “but in fact, it’s always
changing. It’s affected by the culture
of the time.”
In Katz’s view the same holds true
for realism. “What’s real for an African
sculptor is not the same as what’s real
for a European sculptor,” he says.
“There is no absolute realistic painting.
It may be realistic for a short period of
time. It’s all composed of variables
subject to the whims of fashion.”
The final phase of Katz’s painting
is the complete antithesis of Abstract
Expressionism; instead of pointing to
deep psychological drama, it presents
images that are light, fresh and open.
“I think some people were put off by
my aggressive styling,” says the artist,
referring to the considerable simplifi-
cation of the imagery and the radically
new world to which it gave access. In
fact, Katz’s ability to remake a sense of
appearance rested on his long training
in drawing. “I drew a lot before I was a
painter,” he says.
Self-Portrait in Tuxedo
by Max Beckmann
1927; oil on canvas, 54¹⁵⁄₁₆x37⅝
HARVARD ART MUSEUMS/BUSCH-REISINGER
MUSEUM, ASSOCIATION FUND, BR41.37;
PHOTO: IMAGING DEPARTMENT © PRESIDENT
AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGEIn his book he describes how an
experience in high school informed
his later approach. “I came across
beautiful antique drawings, and I
spent most of my time drawing from
antique casts. I became proficient and
realized I could learn something,” he
writes. He goes on to describe a week-
long process of making a drawing,
beginning with taking measurements
and marking with dots, then drawing
lines, and then establishing large
masses of light and dark before finally
refining the finish. “I think I internal-
ized the process,” says the artist, “and
it served me well later.”... ON STYLE
For Katz, what seems paramount in
painting is style, the coherent and
convincing look and feel of an art-
work. “It’s what holds a painting
together,” he says. In his book he
reserves his highest praise for
Caravaggio (1571–1610). “Caravaggio
is, perhaps, the greatest stylist in
Western painting,” he writes, “and
perhaps the most influential artist of
them all. All details, all generalities,
are put together to support the
image.” (See The Crucifixion of Saint
Peter, opposite.) Katz similarly praises
the English expressionist artist