Alex Katz Night House 2, 2013

A pre-eminent painter of modern life, Alex Katz captures the American landscape in scenes from his home in New York and summer house in Maine. In Night House 2 (2013), a small woodland cabin is dwarfed by the surrounding forest, rendered in rich tones of black and midnight blue. The jagged shapes of the trees form a network across the darkened, almost monochrome surface, with their silhouettes barely discernible against the night sky. The warmth of the light spilling from the cabin’s windows forms a spark of domesticity that anchors the scene, a bulwark against the surrounding darkness. However, it remains unclear whether the scene is welcoming or foreboding, whether there is safety in the cabin or danger lurking in the woods, and the overall impression that lingers is that of the overwhelming, awe-inspiring vastness of nature.