Alex Katz's piece titled Porcelain Beauty 1 exemplifies his mastery of minimalist portraiture through the use of stark black and white contrasts. The artwork features a close-up view of a woman's face, rendered with bold, unmodulated black lines against a pristine white background. This high-contrast approach accentuates the clean lines and essential forms that define Katz's distinctive style.

The portrait captures the woman's face in a calm and composed expression, with her eyes slightly narrowed and her lips softly closed. The simplicity of the lines and the absence of shading or color focus the viewer's attention on the essential features of her face—her eyebrows, eyes, nose, and lips—each rendered with precision and clarity. Katz's economical use of lines creates a sense of elegance and poise, embodying the timeless beauty suggested by the title.

Porcelain Beauty 1 highlights Katz's ability to convey depth and character through minimal detail. The woman's smooth, unblemished skin and the sharp contrast of her dark hair against the white background give the piece a striking visual impact. The minimalist composition, with its focus on pure form and line, evokes a sense of timeless elegance and refined simplicity.