Provenance
Galleria D’Arte Contemporanea Emilio Mazzoli, Modena, Italy
Private Collection, Europe
Exhibited
Modena, Galleria D’Arte Contemporanea Emilio Mazzoli, Alex Katz, January–February 2003
Literature
Alex Katz, exh. cat., Galleria D’Arte Contemporanea Emilio Mazzoli, Modena, 2002
Catalogue Essay
Ada on Green, painted in 2002 by Alex Katz, is a captivating example of the artist’s renowned series of portraits of his wife. His muse for over 50 years now, the beautiful Ada was memorably described by art historian Irving Sandler in 1998 as “woman, wife, mother, muse, model, sociable hostess, myth, icon, and New York goddess”. The artist’s continuing fascination with his “perfect model” is evident when he paints Ada in various guises – as a bathing beauty, a cocktail waitress, a bohemian, and mostoften as a confident, simple woman. In Ada on Green, Katz arranges the composition in a way that resembles a snapshot quickly taken for a family album – and indeed, painting is the preferred method for preserving memories in this family. Dubbed by her husband an American Dora Maar (Picasso’s famous model and mistress), Ada is a picture of serenity and loveliness gazing back at the viewer with her expressive, almondshaped eyes.

Katz’s paintings fascinate with the ambiguity of their message, as it is difficult to determine how much they reveal and simultaneously conceal about their subjects. They are deeply personal but at the same time indifferent, often giving little clue the inner person behind the face. Painted against a bright green background, Ada’s orange face is here illuminated by the sharp contrast of colour. The artist has stated that French painter Pierre Bonnard, who bridged impressionism and abstraction with his densely-patterned figurative canvases, is among his important influences, as they share a fascination with light and colour. And although starting out in the trenchantly non-figurative era of Abstract Expressionism, Katz established a practice of large scale representational painting early on in his career. By being consistent in this approach, he has achieved a substantial and enduring artistic reputation that, throughout the decades, has withstood many changes in art world trends.

In 2006, the pivotal place of the artist’s wife in his work was cemented when Ada became the subject of the retrospective ‘Alex Katz Paints Ada’ at the Jewish Museum in New York. In a 2011 interview, Katz confirmed this infatuation with his partner: “Ada is pretty spectacular. She said once, two more inches and she could have nailed Miss America, and she wasn’t kidding, ’cause she’s the same measurements as Miss America and her face is as good, everything is perfect” (interview with Melissa Unger and Gina Kehayoff for Artnet, 2011).

25

Alex Katz

Ada on Green

2002
Oil on canvas.
183 x 244 cm (72 x 96 1/8 in).
Signed and dated ‘Katz 02’ on the overlap.

Estimate
£150,000 - 250,000

Sold for £229,250

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

16 February 2012
London

1
This lot is no longer available.
2
Joe Bradley
Killroy
Estimate £30,000 - 40,000
Sold for £49,250
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3
Kelley Walker
Untitled
Estimate £50,000 - 70,000
Sold for £85,250
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4
Christopher Wool
Untitled
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000
Sold for £169,250
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5
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate £450,000 - 650,000 ‡♠
Sold for £505,250
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6
Marc Quinn
The Golden Column (Microcosmos)
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡♠
Sold for £289,250
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7
Cindy Sherman
Untitled #410
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £433,250
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8
Ugo Rondinone
VIERZEHNTEROKTOBERZWEITAUSENDUNDNULL
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000
Sold for £157,250
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9
Takashi Murakami
Troll’s Umbrella
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £385,250
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10
Thomas Schütte
Gelber Hund
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ♠
Sold for £241,250
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11
Isa Genzken
Dubai
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ♠
Sold for £61,250
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12
Andy Warhol
Mao
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡
Sold for £457,250
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13
This lot is no longer available.
14
George Condo
Woman in Blue Chair
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £205,250
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15
Damien Hirst
Wretched War
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 Ω♠
Sold for £325,250
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16
Andreas Gursky
Jumeirah Palm
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ♠
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17
Lucio Fontana
Concetto spaziale, Attese
Estimate £1,000,000 - 1,500,000 ‡♠
Sold for £1,049,250
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18
Roni Horn
When Dickinson Shut Her Eyes, no. 1259
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000
Sold for £121,250
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19
Richard Prince
My Funny Valentine
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000
Sold for £181,250
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20
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (HALF-EATEN)
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000
Sold for £181,250
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21
Ahmed Alsoudani
Untitled
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £229,250
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22
Walead Beshty
FedEx® Kraft Box© 2005: FedEx Standard Overnight Los Angeles–New York, trk# 8675 2590 1103; FedEx Standard Overnight New York–Washington, trk# 8631 3319 4523, date April 13–14 2009; FedEx Standard Overnight Washington–Miami, trk# 7950 0886 1541, date July 26–27 2011; International Priority Miami–London, trk # 8439 1188 5383, date January 11–13, 2012
Estimate £15,000 - 20,000 ‡♠
Sold for £58,850
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23
John Armleder
Alchemilla Vulgaris
Estimate £40,000 - 60,000 ‡
Sold for £55,250
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24
Damien Hirst
Sensation
Estimate £350,000 - 450,000 ‡♠
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25
Alex Katz
Ada on Green
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000
Sold for £229,250
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26
Olafur Eliasson
The Path Series
Estimate £50,000 - 70,000 ‡♠
Sold for £68,450
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27
Raymond Pettibon
Untitled (The view from beyond the breakers)
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000
Sold for £157,250
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Contemporary Art Evening Sale

16 February 2012 London

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Provenance

Exhibited

Literature

Catalogue Essay

25

Alex Katz

Ada on Green

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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16 February 2012
London