Alex Katz Would Rather Own a 1930s Balenciaga Coat Than a Richard Serra

Throughout Alex Katz’s seven-decade career, fashion has been a preoccupation. “It’s like you say, ‘yes, yes, no’ to everything that comes in front of you,” the 96-year-old artist tells Vogue. “I’m painting the now, and fashion is now.” Katz’s scrutinous eye comes through vividly in his paintings, sculpture, and prints, which seem to effortlessly capture the essence of the sitter’s style as much as the person themself.

One year after his major Guggenheim retrospective, the New York–based artist is showcasing three bodies of never-before-seen work made between 2021 and 2022 in Alex Katz: Claire, Grass and Water. On view April 17 through September 29 at Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, the show was curated by the organization’s director, Luca Massimo Barbero, with support from Thaddaeus Ropac gallery. Coinciding with the 60th Venice Biennale, the exhibition ranges from abstracted landscapes—both jubilant and ominous—to pure fashion.

Thirteen of the 26 works pay homage to mid-century American designer Claire McCardell, who as a pioneer of American sportswear and championed the same timelessness, elegance, and unfussiness in her garments that Katz has cultivated in his distinctive approach to representational painting. Below, the artist discusses how the series came to be and revisits key fashion moments from his career—including one that has yet to happen.

How did you become interested in fashion?

My parents were interested in fashion. They were from Russia and were very concerned with how they appeared. My father was a very sharp dresser. He’d go to work in a shirt, tie, and pants—all pressed—and a beat-up suede jacket. I didn’t realize how chic that was until I was 35. But I always knew his ties were glorious. I also went to a low-grade high school in Queens, but it was high-grade as far as fashion and dancing.

How have you consumed fashion—did you grow up flipping through magazines, for example?

Fashion is in the air. Every so often you see something in the paper, and it looks good, but not too often. It’s about how people wear their clothes. When someone dresses up and feels good, they emanate that.

You once said, “People think fine art is above fashion, and I think that’s ridiculous!” Can you tell me why you think that hierarchy is arbitrary?

I think fashion and art relate a lot. Artists sometimes find fashion is commercial, but actually, they both are. And sometimes they both aren’t, too. I like fashion and how it makes something new and fresh. As far as the art goes, I would rather have a 1930s Balenciaga coat in my living room than a Richard Serra. [Cristóbal] Balenciaga was a great artist in the 1930s into the 1940s. Very few sculptures from that period come close to his beautiful forms.