
Brisk Day
1 work

Ada (black and purple), 2022
2 Color Woodcut on Somerset Satin White, 300 gsm fine art paper
23 5/8 x 18 1/8 in ; 60 x 46 cm
Edition of 75
*Ada (black and purple)* (2022) is a 2 color woodcut on somerset satin white, 300 gsm fine art paper by Alex Katz, measuring 23 5/8 x 18 1/8 in ; 60 x 46 cm. Edition of 75. This work belongs to Alex Katz's landmark Ada series — one of the most sustained portrait projects in American art, dedicated to his wife Ada Katz across more than six decades of printmaking and painting. The Ada works are considered among the most historically significant editions in Katz's production, combining intimate subject matter with his characteristic formal economy. Alex Katz (b. 1927, Brooklyn, New York) is one of the most significant American figurative artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. His prints are held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Tate Modern, and over 100 institutions worldwide. Works from the Ada series are among the most actively traded in the contemporary prints market, with recent auction results at Christie's, Phillips, and Sotheby's confirming sustained collector demand. Guy Hepner represents Alex Katz editions from our New York gallery, with access to works across all major series. Contact us for pricing, availability, and condition reports.
Price on Application

Alex & Ada, The 1960's to the 1980's · Alex Katz · Sotheby's · 2023-04 · $69,850

Alex and Ada, the 1960's to the 1980's · Alex Katz · Christie's · 2019-04 · $43,750

Ada with Flowers · Alex Katz · Heritage Auctions · 2026-04 · $38,750

Standing Ada (Cutout Edition) · Alex Katz · Christie's · 2020-07 · $35,000

Alex and Ada, the 1960s to the 1980s · Alex Katz · Sotheby's · 2014-05 · $34,375


Alex Katz
Ada
2017

Alex Katz
Ada (black)
2022

Alex Katz
Ada (purple)
2022

Alex Katz
Ada #1
2017

Alex Katz
Ada #10
2017

Alex Katz
Ada #2
2017

Alex Katz
Ada #3
2017

Alex Katz
Ada #4
2017

Alex Katz
Ada #5
2017

Alex Katz
Ada #6
2017

Alex Katz
Ada #7
2017

Alex Katz
Ada #8
2017

Alex Katz
Ada #9
2017

Alex Katz
Ada 1
2022

Alex Katz
Ada 10
2022

Alex Katz
Ada 2
2022

Alex Katz
Ada 3
2022

Alex Katz
Ada 4
2022

Alex Katz
Ada 5
2022

Alex Katz
Ada 6
2022

Alex Katz
Ada 7
2022

Alex Katz
Ada 8
2022

Alex Katz
Ada 9
2022

Alex Katz
Ada in Hat
1990

Alex Katz
Ada in Spain
2018

Alex Katz
Ada x 2
2020

Alex Katz
Bathing Cap (Ada)
2012

Alex Katz
Black Hat (Ada)
2012

Alex Katz
December Ada
2020

Alex Katz
Double Ada
2016

Alex Katz
Large Black Hat Ada
2013

Alex Katz
Purple Hat (Ada)
2017

Alex Katz
Red Hat (Ada)
2015
The Ada series represents one of the most sustained and intimate bodies of work in American art — a portrait project spanning more than sixty years, dedicated entirely to Alex Katz's wife Ada Del Moro, whom he married in 1958. Ada has appeared in more Katz works than any other subject: in screenprints, aquatints, etchings, and paintings, rendered in every season of light and mood, always with the same economy of means that defines Katz's practice.
Ada works command consistent results at auction. Standing Ada (S. 216) carried estimates of US$12,000–18,000 at Phillips in April 2026. Small Head of Ada (S. 58) presented at US$1,000–2,000 at the same sale, demonstrating the breadth of the market across edition sizes and periods. Earlier, more limited works in the series routinely exceed these benchmarks. Yvonne — a portrait closely related in format — sold for £444,500, demonstrating the ceiling this vein of Katz's portraiture can reach for exceptional examples.
What makes the Ada series remarkable is not simply its longevity but its refusal to sentimentalise. Katz approaches Ada as a formal problem as much as a personal subject. The face is reduced to essential planes — the angle of a jaw, the weight of a hat brim, the precise tonal relationship between skin and shadow — and presented with a graphic clarity that owes as much to Japanese woodblock prints and American billboard culture as it does to the Western portrait tradition.
The works range from intimate single-head compositions to multi-figure arrangements where Ada appears alongside other sitters. They vary in palette from the saturated primaries of summer to the cool greens and greys of winter. But the approach remains constant: everything that is not necessary has been removed.
The Ada series is considered foundational to any serious Katz collection. Edition sizes vary significantly: earlier works from the 1960s and 70s tend to be more tightly limited and command the highest prices; more recent editions in larger runs are accessible to a broader range of collectors. Condition, the presence of the artist's signature, and original documentation are key considerations in valuation.
Guy Hepner maintains an active inventory across the Ada series and can source specific works on request.

Alex Katz prints for sale at Guy Hepner Gallery in New York span over seventy years of one of the most significant and sustained printmaking practices in American art. Katz's editions — screenprints, lithographs, aquatints, etchings, and woodcuts produced across dozens of major series — translate his distinctive flat-colour figurative style into formats that have attracted dedicated collector attention worldwide. For collectors seeking Alex Katz paintings for sale, Alex Katz art for sale, or specific print editions, Guy Hepner at 177 Tenth Avenue, New York offers expert guidance, authenticated works across all his major series, and deep knowledge of a market that has demonstrated remarkable consistency over decades.
Alex Katz (b. 1927, Brooklyn, New York) is one of the great survivors and pioneers of American figurative art — an artist who, in the 1950s, refused the prevailing tide of Abstract Expressionism and committed himself to a reinvention of figuration so radical in its formal ambitions that it would take decades for critics and historians to fully appreciate what he had achieved. Katz studied at Cooper Union and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, and the landscapes of the Maine coast — along with the faces of his wife Ada, his friends in the New York art world, and the dancers of the Paul Taylor Dance Company — have remained his primary subjects across a career spanning more than seventy years.
Katz's signature style is deceptively simple and unmistakably his own: flat planes of even colour, bold simplified forms, compositions cropped dramatically close and scaled to monumental dimensions, with the meticulous refinement of a painter who has spent decades eliminating everything unnecessary. His influences are wide — the scale and commercial directness of billboard advertising, the flat colour and compositional authority of Japanese woodblock prints, the radical economy of Matisse — but the synthesis is entirely original. His work looks fast and effortless; it is the result of deep, systematic labour.
Katz's printmaking practice, which began in the 1950s, encompasses all major graphic media and is among the most important and extensive of any American artist of his generation. Key series include:
While Katz's paintings occupy the upper tier of the market — major canvases selling for $500,000–$5,000,000+ at Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips — his prints offer an accessible and historically significant alternative entry point. Recent auction results confirm sustained print market strength: Orange Hat achieved $27,940 at Christie's in February 2026; Vivien X 5 sold for $30,000 at Artsy in September 2023; Standing Ada has been estimated at $12,000–$18,000 at Phillips. For collectors who want genuine engagement with Katz's practice at more accessible price points, the print editions represent a compelling and well-documented market.
His work is held in permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tate Modern, the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin, the Smithsonian Institution, the Art Institute of Chicago, and over one hundred other major institutions. He received the National Medal of Arts in 2011 and a major retrospective at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 2022 introduced his work to a new generation of collectors.
Series and subject: Ada prints consistently outperform peripheral subjects. The Flowers, Brisk Day, and Dancers series also carry strong long-term demand. Works from before 1990 carry particular historical significance as examples from his formative printmaking campaigns.
Medium: Screenprints are the dominant medium in Katz's edition output and where the flatness and colour authority of his style translate most directly. Aquatints and etchings offer a more intimate register; woodcuts have attracted increased collector interest as the Japanese influence in his practice has received greater critical attention.
Edition size and impression quality: Smaller editions and artist proofs carry premium. The quality of colour registration and ink density varies between impressions; viewing proofs directly is valuable for significant acquisitions.
Condition: Works on paper require attention to UV exposure and framing. Screenprints are vulnerable to fading; works framed and stored correctly hold value most reliably.
Provenance: Exhibition history and reproduction in major catalogue publications strengthen value for significant acquisitions.
Guy Hepner has been buying and selling Alex Katz prints and editions for over twenty years, building one of the most comprehensive private inventories of his work in New York. Our gallery at 177 Tenth Avenue offers collectors authenticated works across all his major series — Ada, Flowers, Brisk Day, Vivien, Dancers, and more — with expert guidance on acquisition, valuation, and collection development.
Whether you are seeking Alex Katz paintings for sale, a specific print from the Ada or Flowers series, or a comprehensive view of his edition output, Guy Hepner provides the expertise, provenance documentation, and market access to support every acquisition. We offer free, confidential valuations for those looking to sell Katz works and maintain active connections to a global network of collectors and institutions seeking his output across all media and price points.