Malerei mit dunklen Ästen, im Hintergrund scheint gelbliches Licht.

Alex Katz

Moonlight, 1997

MaterialOil on canvas
Dimensions182.7 x 244 cm
Year of acquisition1997
Inventory numberUAB 217
On viewCurrently not exhibited
Copyright© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn [2024], Photo: Haydar Koyupinar, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich

More about the artwork

By repeatedly returning to the same motif, Katz is able to explore the peculiarities of a landscape—or a particular section of it—under changing light conditions and to reveal different objects and colors each time. Many of the titles of his landscapes indicate the time of day or even the hour: “Moonlight” at night or “3 P.M. November” (1996) with sparsely leafed branches against a yellowish-blue sky. “These are very fleeting fast things,” says Alex Katz. “I have captured twilight in landscapes that can only be seen for a quarter of an hour. These are really high-speed sensations, and I find it very interesting.”