Skip to Content
Closed now, next open tomorrow. Closed now, next open tomorrow.

Fran

A work made of etching and aquatint on ivory wove paper.
Art © Alex Katz / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Image actions

  • A work made of etching and aquatint on ivory wove paper.

Date:

1972

Artist:

Alex Katz (American, born 1927)
printed by Hitoshi Nakazato (Japanese, born 1936)
co-published by Brooke Alexander, Inc. and Marlborough Graphics, Inc.

About this artwork

During the 1950s, when abstraction was the dominant theme in American art, Alex Katz insisted on painting representational subjects drawn from firsthand observation. Portraits in particular figure prominently in Katz’s oeuvre, especially after 1960. Like his contemporaries Ellsworth Kelly and Frank Stella, Katz created art that was clear, reductive, and unambiguous in an attempt to minimize emotion. For inspiration he turned to mass media, especially advertising and cinema, for devices that would enhance his work’s clarity, impact, and impersonality. In composition and aesthetic, the prints of June Ekman’s Class exemplify these ideals, with their narrow format and frank linear properties enhanced by aquatint. Like advertising images, the portraits are often cropped at the forehead or jawline, making the faces appear massive despite their modest size.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Alex Katz

Title

Fran

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1972

Medium

Etching and aquatint on ivory wove paper

Dimensions

Image: 13 × 22.4 cm (5 1/8 × 8 7/8 in.); Sheet: 27.9 × 38.1 cm (11 × 15 in.)

Credit Line

Margaret Fisher Endowment

Reference Number

2000.440.9

Copyright

Art © Alex Katz / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share