Alex Katz on Sharing the Room With Matisse An Interview with the artist

By Roslyn Sulcas

Katz, 99, both loved and was nervous about the idea. As a young man, he attended a 1949 exhibition at Matisse’s son’s gallery in New York, and has retained a profound admiration for the painter. ‘Matisse is simply the best technician in 400 years,' Katz said recently by phone from the apartment and studio in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan where he and his wife Ada, have lived in since 1968. 'I wondered whether I would hold up.’ [...]

In the interview, Katz talked about the exhibition, and his thoughts on Matisse and other artists. 

What was your reaction when you were asked about doing the show?

I had a lot of anxieties. Matisse is such a powerhouse. The Matisse Museum is a little like a boutique museum; the rooms are not large. I had to be very selective about what would fit, and since I couldn’t be there for the installation, I was nervous. But we found a lot of my early paintings that I thought would work well. And when I finally got to the big aquatints, I thought, 'OK, these hold up.' I felt it was a pretty good representation of who I am, given the limits of the space. [...]