Klaus Albrecht SchröderBesprekingen

Katalog anlässlich der Ausstellung im Kunstforum der Bank Austria, Wien, 21. September bis 28. November 1993 und im Kunsthaus Zürich, 25. März bis 23. Mai 1994. Mit 93 Farbabbildungen und 113 Schwarzweissabbildungen

Catalog of an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art from March to June 2013 featuring works by Durer from the Albertina Museum in Vienna.

The Albertina collection in Vienna has recently acquired Alex Katz' print oeuvre. Despite being born in 1928, Alex Katz is not as well known as his contemporaries. His portraits share the urban isolation of a Edward Hopper, the imagery of Japanese wood cuts, some of the pop art of a Roy Lichtenstein and the reductionism of a Julian Opie. I prefer Katz to the very similar Opie due to the former's lack of strong outlines. I wish Katz went beyond his somewhat consumeristic Carebears motives. There is hardly any message in or behind his art, almost drawn fashion photography. Similar to the Photoshop-happy fashionistas, Katz erases most of the effects of age from his portraits. As he often depicts his own wife, seeing her drawn as a young woman today is the opposite of truth in art.

Overall, the catalogue is well done. Its major weakness is the limited (Albertina owned) range of pictures used to illustrate artistic influences on Katz, a mission still unfulfilled.