Born on July 24, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York, Alex Katz is a renowned painter from the United States. His work is characterized by its affiliation with modern realism and pop art. While the majority of his works are portraits, he also devoted himself to depicting landscapes and architecture. Katz was born to Russian-Jewish immigrants and grew up in the New York borough of Queens. His father was a merchant, while his mother was a stage actress. Between 1946 and 1949, Alex Katz studied at the Cooper Union Art School in New York, an art academy that was oriented towards the French avant-garde. He then continued his training at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine, until 1950.

His first solo exhibition in 1954 at the Roko Gallery in New York was disappointing. In 1960 and 1964, he designed stage sets and costumes for performances by the Paul Taylor Dance Company at the Spoleto Festival. In 1972, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship for his painting. In 1994, Alex Katz was accepted as a member of the National Academy of Design. In the same year, a visiting professorship was established at the Cooper Union Art School, which was financed by the sale of ten paintings donated by Katz. In April 2001, Alex Katz had a fellowship as a visiting artist at the American Academy in Berlin. He has also been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1988. He currently lives in New York and Maine.