ABOUT THE WORK

In Penobscot Morning, 2000, Alex Katz captures the quiet beauty of Maine’s coastal landscape with his signature focus on light and atmosphere. The painting reflects Katz’s ability to distill a scene into its essential elements, creating a vivid moment of stillness. Inspired by the Penobscot Bay region, the work emphasizes clarity and simplicity, drawing the viewer into a serene, early-morning scene.

Katz first encountered the distinctive northeastern summer light as a teenager at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. This formative experience sparked a lifelong connection to the region. For over sixty years, the artist has owned a summer home in Lincolnville, where he immerses himself in the tranquil coastal landscape. Penobscot Morning is part of a series Katz began in the late 1990s, inspired by the coastal shoreline near his residence. In this work, he captures the vibrant brilliance of a summer day, preserving the radiant sunlight of an idyllic moment.

Portraiture has always been central to Katz’s work: it emphasizes the intricate dynamics between artist, subject, and viewer. Penobscot Morning functions as both a landscape and a group portrait, weaving together a tapestry of relationships. Each figure is absorbed in their own world—connecting with a partner, a pet, or the natural surroundings. Among them is Ada, Katz’s wife and longtime muse, who has been the subject of over two hundred portraits. In this painting, Ada gazes directly at the artist and viewer, her expression distant and flattened by the intensity of the sunlight – her identity discernible because of her recurring presence in Katz’s oeuvre.

The other figures bask in Katz’s scene, embodying the leisurely essence of a summer morning on the beach. The painting’s large scale immerses the viewer into a radiant, yellow-drenched composition that captures the intricate choreography and psychology of relationships – between people, their environment, and the viewer. The artist’s sensitivity to movement and interaction breathes life into the scene, with each figure poised mid-gesture, creating a dynamic arrangement. The vibrant yellow sky and its shimmering reflection in the water, intersected by the distant, gray coastal horizon, enhance the sense of calm, balancing the motion of the life-size figures in the foreground.

As one of the largest works on a single canvas that Katz ever completed, Penobscot Morning is a remarkable testament to his artistry and a singular achievement within his oeuvre. This monumental painting not only exemplifies Katz’s mastery of scale but also serves as a vivid celebration of his connection to Maine and his enduring muse, Ada. Through the artist’s eyes, we are invited to experience the beauty of the northeastern summer and the relationships that define his work. His bold, vibrant use of color and signature approach to figuration make Penobscot Morning a standout work, demonstrating the artist’s skill in capturing the interplay of light, landscape, and human connection with clarity and precision on a human scale.