Morris Katz

Morris Katz (born Moshe Katz on March 5, 1932 – November 12, 2010) was a Polish-American painter. He holds two Guinness World Records as the world's fastest painter and most prolific artist. He was known as the "King of Schlock Art" and the "King of Toilet Paper Art" due to his unique painting technique using a palette knife and toilet tissue instead of a paintbrush. Using his Instant Art method, Morris spent six years painting each US president in the “Old Master” style, averaging 200 hours per portrait. Each portrait includes the US flag with the exact number of stars per state for each president. The collection was popular worldwide. He sold millions of postcards to collectors. In 1965, Morris was commissioned by the Vatican to paint a portrait of Pope Paul VI, which sold 3 million copies worldwide.

Early life Katz was born in Galicia, Poland in 1932 and studied under Dr. Hans Fokler of the Munich Academy at age 13. During the Holocaust, he endured Nazi concentration camps and lost most of his family. After World War II, he lived in a displaced persons camp where he earned a diploma in carpentry, and later said that toilet paper was his "diploma in art". He was also a painter, comedian, and television personality, hosting and producing over 600 TV shows using his Instant Art Method.

Instant Art On May 9, 1988, Katz set a new Guinness World Record by painting a 12- by 16-inch canvas of a child in just 30 seconds. He called his method “Instant Art” due to the speed at which he completed his paintings.

In 1987, Katz completed 103 paintings in 12 hours at an event benefiting the Boy Scouts of America, selling 55 pieces on the spot.

Death An obituary described him as creating “instant art” and entertaining generations of guests in the old Borscht Belt hotels. Katz died on November 12, 2010, at the age of 78 after suffering a stroke.