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Alice Neel

Alice Neel (1900 – 1984) was an American artist, who was known for her portraits of friends, family, poets, artists, and strangers. Her paintings have an expressionistic use of line and color, psychological insight, and emotional intensity. During the majority of her life, she was an unknown artist.

“I don’t look for anything, I just look.” -Alice Neel

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Loneliness

Oil on canvas

80 x 38

1970

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Jackie Curtis and Ritra Redd

Oil on canvas

60 x 42

1970

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Sunset in Spanish Harlem

Oil on canvas

39” x 22”

1958

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The Spanish Family

Oil on canvas

34” x 28”

1943

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Central Park

Oil on canvas

44” x 34”

1959

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Nancy and Olivia

Oil on canvas

39” x 36”

1967

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The world had roughed her up pretty good but she gave as well as she got. Hoban (who wrote a book about Neel) theorizes that Neel “didn’t see her subjects just as victims; she also saw them as survivors, however scarred. As such, almost all Neel’s subjects mirror her own identity”.

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This seems right, but it doesn’t go far enough. The invasiveness of Neel’s portraits became her persona. Under the guise of probing others she used portraiture to retaliate against the world for the many psychic wounds she sustained.

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This is what made her tick, and what makes the uncomfortable, aggressive edge of her work so compelling.

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Harold Cruse

Oil on canvas

37 x 22”

1950

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Elizabeth

Oil on canvas 46 x 32”

1984

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Alice Neel’s daughter-in-law discusses the experience of being painted by her.

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An Alice Neel inspired artwork

  • Think about different people who could act as a subject for a portrait. Who do you feel a connection to?

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  • What emotion of your subject do you want to communicate? What do you want the viewer to feel?

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  • Take or get a photograph of your subject to use as a reference. What size and shape will your portrait be?

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  • What materials do you want to use, what would be best to communicate your idea?

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Inspired Neel Painting PLAN AND FIRST STEPS

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Inspired Neel Painting WORK IN PROGRESS

  • Underpainting
  • Textures with paint
  • Black outline