Alex Katz Honored at White House Ceremony
Bob Keyes, Colby News, October 23, 2024
The artist Alex Katz, who has been closely associated with the Colby College Museum of Art for many decades and received an honorary degree from the College in 1984, received a National Medal of Arts in a White House ceremony this week.
The National Medal of Arts is the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the federal government. It is awarded to individuals and groups for their contributions to the excellence, growth, support, and availability of the arts in the United States.
President Joseph R. Biden presented Katz, 97, with the medal on Monday afternoon.
The National Endowment for the Arts oversees the awards, seeking annual nominations from individuals and organizations across the country. The National Council on the Arts, the NEA’s presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed advisory body, reviews the nominations and provides recommendations to the president, who selects the recipients.
“It was completely unexpected. I’m overwhelmed by the honor—particularly, having the American government taking fine artists so seriously,” Katz said in a statement. “Of the other artists who received it, Robert Rauschenberg is like a hero to me with his relationship to society. He gave a lot back, and I try to work in his footsteps.”
NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, who visited the Colby Museum a year ago, saluted Katz and other recipients for improving people’s lives through their curiosity, creativity, hard work, and dedication. “The arts enrich our lives, helping us to ask questions, imagine new possibilities, and create community,” she said.
Katz and Colby
Katz’s work is defined by a pared-down painting style, and he often works on a grand scale. Colby houses the largest collection of Katz paintings of any museum in the world.
The artist first came to Maine in 1949, when he received a Cooper Union scholarship to study at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. He was introduced to Colby in the 1950s and continued his relationship to Maine as a summer resident of Lincolnville.
His relationship with Colby grew with his friendship with Hugh Gourley, who directed the museum for more than 30 years. In 1992 Katz donated more than 400 of his works to the Colby Museum. The Paul J. Schupf Wing for the Works of Alex Katz, which opened in 1996 and presents selections from the Katz Collection, was made possible through the generosity of the late art collector Paul J. Schupf, LL.D. ’06, then a Colby trustee.
The Schupf Wing makes the Colby Museum one of the few in the United States with a wing devoted solely to the work of a single living artist. Schupf also gave a number of major works by Katz, including the large-scale painting Pas de Deux, an iconic painting from 1983, in honor of Gourley.
Colby’s collection now includes nearly 900 Katz works and a trove of archival material related to the Katz Collection, available to students and researchers. Through the Alex Katz Foundation, the artist also has donated nearly 500 works of art by other artist to the Colby Museum, substantially enriching the museum’s collection.