The best of Katz’s portraits create a palpable tension between specific and abstract, intimate and remote, near and far. This tension animates Katz’s depiction of both people and space. With Red Coat, an enigmatic portrait of his wife Ada, the artist takes his cue from movies, photography, and advertising, radically cropping and magnifying his wife’s visage, bringing her face to the very front of the picture plane. Yet, despite her proximity to the viewer, Ada’s expression is indecipherable: whatever she might be thinking or feeling remains a mystery. This does nothing to dampen the portrait’s emotional and psychological charge, which derive directly from Ada’s inaccessibility.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
Leslie and Stanley Westreich, New York (by 1986–at least 1995); [Saatchi Gallery, London, by 1997–2013; on long term loan to the Whitney Museum of American Art, 2003–13]; [Timothy Taylor Gallery, London; to American Contemporary Art Foundation]; The American Contemporary Art Foundation, Inc., Leonard A. Lauder, President, New York (until 2015; their gift to MMA)
New York. Marlborough Gallery, Inc. "Alex Katz: Recent Paintings," March 5–April 2, 1983, no. 14.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Alex Katz," March 13–June 15, 1986, unnumbered cat. (pl. 90; lent by Leslie and Stanley Westreich).
London. Saatchi Gallery. "Alex Katz: Twenty Five Years of Painting from the Saatchi Collection," January 1–April 1, 1998, unnumbered cat. (colorpl. 11).
Bonn. Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. "Alex Katz: In Your Face," May 9–August 18, 2002, unnumbered cat. (p. 56; lent by the Saatchi Gallery, London).
Jewish Museum, New York. "Alex Katz Paints Ada," October 27, 2006–March 18, 2007, unnumbered cat. (pl. 39; courtesy of the Whitney Museum of American Art).
Albany. New York State Museum. "Alex Katz: Selections from the Whitney Museum of American Art," March 31–August 19, 2007, no catalogue.
Roslyn Harbor, N.Y. Nassau County Museum of Art. "Alex Katz: Selections from the Whitney Museum of American Art," June 29–October 13, 2013.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Alex Katz at the Met," October 9, 2015–November 6, 2016, no catalogue.
Madrid. Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza. "Alex Katz," June 11–September 11, 2022, no. 15.
John Russell. "Art: Alex Katz's Works, Ever Nice, Never Empty." New York Times (March 11, 1983), p. C22.
Richard Marshall. Alex Katz. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 1986, pp. 20, 153, colorpl. 90.
Michael Scholnick. Alex Katz: From the Early 60s. Exh. cat., Robert Miller Gallery. New York, 1987, unpaginated.
Brooks Adams. "Alex Katz's 'Kool' Portraits." Parkett no. 21 (September 1989), ill. p. 27.
Sam Hunter. Alex Katz. New York, 1992, colorpl. 72.
Jochen Poetter inAlex Katz: American Landscape. Exh. cat., Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden. Baden-Baden, 1995, pp. 16, 19, fig. 7 (color).
Juan Manuel Bonet inAlex Katz. Exh. cat., IVAM, Centre Julio González. Valencia, 1996, pp. 10, 88.
Merlin James inAlex Katz: Twenty Five Years of Painting from the Saatchi Collection. Ed. David Sylvester. Exh. cat., Saatchi Gallery. London, 1997, pp. 32, 60–61, ill. (overall and detail), ill. cover, colorpl. 11.
Irving Sandler. Alex Katz: A Retrospective. New York, 1998, ill. p. 53 (color).
Kay Heymer inAlex Katz: In Your Face. Exh. cat., Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn. Cologne, 2002, p. 11.
Jochen Poetter inAlex Katz: In Your Face. Exh. cat., Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn. Cologne, 2002, pp. 16, 138, ill. p. 56 (color).
Constance Lewallen with Alex Katz inAlex Katz: In Your Face. Exh. cat., Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn. Cologne, 2002, p. 107.
Alex Katz and Robert Storr. "Interview: Robert Storr in Conversation with Alex Katz." Alex Katz. London, 2005, p. 12, ill. p. 14 (color), locates it in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York).
Robert Storr inAlex Katz: Reflections. Ed. Alberto Fiz. Exh. cat., Museo delle arti Catanzaro. Milan, 2009, ill. p. 61, locates it in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
Karen Wilkin. "Art, Alex Katz at the Met
." New Criterion 34 (February 2016), pp. 44–45.
Max Hollein. Modern and Contemporary Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2019, ill. p. 147 (color).
Guillermo Solana. Alex Katz. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza. Madrid, 2022, pp. 18, 126, no. 15, ill. p. 65 (color).
Katherine Brinson with Levi Prombaum, ed. Alex Katz: Gathering. Exh. cat., Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. New York, 2022, ill. p. 337 (color, installation view Exh. New York 1986).
Alex Katz (American, born Brooklyn, New York, 1927)
1968
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
