EXHIBITION
Nancy Lee Katz: A Private Pantheon
On View:
Location:
2121 Allston Way | Berkeley , CA
Gallery Hours:
Dear Mark Di Suvero,
I am a photographer working on a book of photographic portraits. My portraits are of people who have contributed to society. Could you give me one hour in your studio for a portrait? I can be available at your convenience.
— Nancy Lee Katz, 2010
Nancy Lee Katz: A Private Pantheon explores the artist’s decades-long effort to photograph artists, writers, musicians, and thinkers she admired, including Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Sondheim, Maya Lin, Roy Lichtenstein, and Seiji Ozawa. Created in the intimate environments of personal studios and workplaces, these 133 portraits look behind public accolades to reveal a quiet, private presence. Unfolding in two parts (fall and spring), the exhibition presents, for the first time, the entirety of Katz’s Pantheon.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Nancy Lee Katz, 1994. Gift of Michael S. Sachs, 2024.1.51
Exhibition Team
Guest Curator:
Lauren Graves
Coordinating Curators:
Alissa Schapiro and Hannah Weisman
Registrar:
Andrea Calderon
Head Preparator:
David Sullivan
Design:
Carole Jeung
Special thanks to Michael S. Sachs, who has made this exhibition possible through his generous gift of Nancy Lee Katz’s Pantheon (2024.1), loan of additional prints, and gracious consultations.
Audio descriptions are made possible thanks to guidance and feedback from Gary Dunning and the Blind Posse, with technical assistance from Khurram Qureshi.
Maya Lin by Nancy Lee Katz, 1998. Gift of Michael S. Sachs, 2024.1.75
Louise Bourgeois by Nancy Lee Katz, 1986. Gift of Michael S. Sachs, 2024.1.17
Roy Lichtenstein by Nancy Lee Katz, 1986. Gift of Michael S. Sachs, 2024.1.74
About the photographer
Nancy Lee Katz (1947–2018) was a prolific photographer who spent her life documenting people and places. Katz was born to a Jewish family in Los Angeles and traveled extensively in her youth, exploring Europe and Morocco before beginning work as an assistant film editor and still photographer. From 1986 to 2010, she created a remarkable pantheon of portraits, focusing on artists, musicians, writers, and thinkers whose work she respected, though she never sold nor published her prints. She also pursued music, art, and travel, documenting traditional cultures worldwide. Katz’s independence and passion left a lasting mark on those who knew her.
Related Programs
Friends of the Magnes Preview
Learn more about becoming a member of the Friends of the Magnes.
Sep 2 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Roundtable | On Nancy Lee Katz’s Photography
While Katz considered each of these sitters to be part of her Pantheon when she created the portraits between 1986 and 2010, some of the figures have controversial and problematic pasts that might disqualify them from a pantheon created today. The Magnes presents Katz’s project as a historical and artistic record while acknowledging that some sitters’ legacies are contested and that professional achievement does not erase personal misconduct.