LONDON.- Now in his 82nd year, Alex Katz is one of the most significant artists of his generation. His distinctive portraits and lyrical landscapes are noted for their pristine flat surface and economy of line, depicting scenes from modern life. Katz's minimal aesthetic was developed in the 1950s and was at the time, both an anticipation of Pop Art and a reaction to the prevalence of Abstract Expressionism. Katz has always been that intriguing thing: an artist's artist. His influence is widely felt: many of today's most successful contemporary artists from Peter Doig to Elizabeth Peyton acknowledge their debt to Katz.

This exhibition premieres a series of recent portraits of Katz's friends and family - Three People, 2009,depicts his immediate family: Ada, his wife and lifelong muse, together with their son, Vincent and daughter-in-law, Vivien. These large-scale yet surprisingly intimate new works amply display Katz's bold clarity of vision and his emphatic use of colour and line: his work has never been so powerful.

In May to September 2010, the National Portrait Gallery in London will present a display of Katz's works, most notably an early and unusual three dimensional group portrait of Manhattan's literary and artistic party scene, "One Flight Up", 1968.

Alex Katz has been the subject of over 200 solo exhibitions and been included in nearly 500 group shows internationally since 1951. Throughout his career, Katz has been the recipient of numerous awards and his work is held in over 100 public collections worldwide. Recently, Anthony D'Offay donated a group of works by Katz to the National Galleries of Scotland and Tate, as part of the nationwide Artist's Rooms project.