ArtistAlex Katz
ArtworkBlack Dress Portfolio
Year2015
Price€180,000

Silkscreen (set of 9)
Edition of 35 Each
203,2 x 76,2 cm (80 x 30 in.)
Signed and numbered
In excellent condition

LET US TELL YOU MORE ABOUT THIS EDITION

The Black Dress has been a recurrent theme in Alex Katz’s work since the very beginning. The theme of the edition goes back to one of his most iconic early paintings, which is indeed titled “Black Dress” and depicts 6 different perspectives of a woman wearing a classical, Breakfast-at-Tiffany like black shift dress. This painting dates from 1960 and is owned by the Brandhorst collection in Munich. The actual composition for the edition refers to the original painting “Black dress” from 2010.

“In fact, it completely transcends fashion. What the little black dress does do, if it’s perfect, is very gently draw the eye to a woman’s best and finest features – a delicate collarbone, or the curve of a shoulder or a slender neck. It allows you to see the woman wearing it at her most beautiful, in a really pure, clear way.” — Calvin Klein

“Black Dress” is a series of 9 life-size, hand-pulled silkscreens of some of the models Katz has painted over the years, all of them in a similar pose leaning against a yellow background and wearing a unique style of a little black dress (LBD) and black heels. All of them look elegant and classy but are at the same time posing in a relaxed and almost snobbish manner. The edition goes back to the original painting “Black dress” from 2010 which is owned by the Brandhorst Collection in Munich. This edition is one of the most elaborated edition projects Katz has ever done, and certainly the one which is destined to become his masterpiece edition. It has all of Katz’s main themes: e.g. the Black Dress, the Women, the Black and Yellow color blocking, the seriality and the coolness with which Katz portraits his models.