Alex Katz’s Inner Circle

A Series of Studies and Sketches by Alex Katz for Round Hill Featured in Upcoming May Auction at STAIR. 

An outlier in terms of subject matter for the artist Alex Katz, the painting Round Hill, from 1977, shows a group of family and friends on the Caribbean island of Nevis. Most of Katz’s paintings depict the landscapes of Maine, where he and his family have summered for over seventy years, with or without figures of people he loves, his wife, Ada, above all. In Round Hill, we see Ada in sunglasses, their son, Vincent, reading a book, and close friends Christopher Walling and his partner, writer Sanford Schwartz. The fifth figure is a friend of Walling’s, Elizabeth Cramer. Katz’s use of light and color, and the flatness of the composition as seen here, are his singular style, neither Realist nor Pop, though he has been associated with both groups throughout his career.

One of the figures shown in this painting is jewelry designer Christopher Walling. Walling met Alex and Ada Katz in 1975 through Walling’s partner, Sanford Schwartz, who was writing about the artist at the time. The couples shared a long friendship, vacationing in Maine and on the island of Nevis together. During a stay on Nevis in 1977, Katz asked the group if he could paint them together on the beach. Four studies in our upcoming 20th Century, Modern & Contemporary Fine Art sale on May 15th were preparatory sketches for the finished painting.  One of the studies, Study for Round Hill (Reclining), was drawn on back side of a pochoir that Katz made in 1976 titled Al Held.

Also included in the May sale is a portrait cut-out of Walling on metal made in 1980, and a pencil study of Christopher Walling for the painting Up in the Bleachers, from 1983. Walling is the figure second from the right at the bottom of the finished composition. Seen together, these works show the intimacy Katz shared with his inner circle of friends. They also show the importance of perception that Katz refers to when he speaks of capturing the essence of a moment, and “seeing and conveying a sense of the world.”

Preview 20th Century, Modern & Contemporary Fine Art on May 15 at 2pm and register to bid.

CATALOGUE ONLINE: Friday, May 2, 2025

GALLERY PREVIEW:

Friday, May 2: 9am – 5pm
Saturday, May 3: 11am – 5pm
Sunday, May 4: Closed
Monday, May 5: 9am – 5pm
Tuesday, May 6: 9am – 5pm
Wednesday, May 7: 9am – 5pm
Thursday, May 8: 9am – 5pm
Friday, May 9: 9am – 5pm
Saturday, May 10: 11am – 5pm
Sunday, May 11: Closed
Monday, May 12: 9am – 5pm
Tuesday, May 13: 9am – 5pm
Wednesday, May 14: 9am – 5pm