The American painter Alex Katz (b. 1927) began working in the 1950s, focusing on figurative subjects, which set him apart from the avant-garde mainstream but brought him public recognition in the 1980s when many young artists began to work in related ways.

Primarily working from life, Katz produces images in which line and form are expressed through carefully composed strokes and planes of flat colour. Although best-known for large-scale portraits, painted in his distinctive, stylised manner, Katz has also consistently made small paintings primarily as studies, which function as independent pieces and which can be considered as a distinct body of work.