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Artist: Alex Katz (American, b. 1927)
Kelley went to Showhagen School for Painting and Sclupture in Maine on a scholarship and learned to paint. He then studied painting under Morris Kantor at Cooper Union Art School, New York and recieved instruction in modern art theory and technique. He holds an honorary Doctorate from Colgate University, New York and Colby College, Maine. At first his works featured smaller figures on landscapes, but he moved toward realism and portature characterized by monochrome backgrounds during the 1950s. Eventually, he began making cut-outs: freestanding, flat scultpures and relief paintings that exist in real space. His later works are characterized by groups of figures or large landscapes. Katz has been exhibited internationally, including in Austria, Germany, the US, Spain, Italy, and the UK. He recieved the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship for Painting (1972), the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy Museum (2007), the Cooper Union Annual Artist of the City Award (2000), the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award (1988), and was the Philip Morris Distinguished Artist at the American Academy in Berlin (2001).