Alice Neel

by Alice Neel (Editor), Richard Flood, Ann Temkin

Alice Neel (1900-1984) was one of this century's most powerfully original portraitists. Her psychological vision as a painter of people has been described as both tender and unforgiving. This full-scale examination of her life and work accompanies a traveling retrospective, organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art that celebrates the centennial of her birth and is the first major exhibition of her work since 1974.From deeply personal paintings of her own family and neighbors to arresting portraits of important New York art-world figures like Andy Warhol, Robert Smithson, and Frank O'Hara, the 75 paintings and watercolors presented in this book hover disconcertingly between intimacy and monumentality and have an unforgettable impact. This centennial salute will focus renewed attention on one of the preeminent American artists of the 20th century.

Genres: Art

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Alice Neel was an American artist known for her oil on canvas portraits.

Reviews

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

1900-1984

You know those little free libraries that have popped up all over the place? Well, that's where I found this book. I decided to take it home when I saw how beautifully the paintings had been reproduced (although I'd never heard of the artist).

Neel qualifies as a character, which in my mind is good. Her self-portrait, a part of which appears on the cover, was drawn when she was 80 years old. She portrayed herself sitting on an arm chair holding paintbrush and rag but wearing only her glasses. Yep, nude. Not gorgeous, but realistic.

On page 13, we learn that, Like much of Neel's work over the course of five decades, the painting is happy to look wrong. . . . Neel's genius as a portraitist lay in her ability to excavate the character beneath the surface.

Then, on page 30, we read that in her paintings the female body is more real than imaginary; it is something that is lived in rather than something to be worshipped or desired. In Neel's painting of herself, as in her paintings of others, she portrays a unique body, the body a person acquires through a combination of genes, age, and experience.

One woman claimed that she had rejected the idea of modeling for Neel, explaining that she didn't want to come out looking like Dracula's daughter.

I'm glad to know a little about this artist, but I can't say that I'd want any of these paintings on my wall. The image of Andy Warhol portrays a soul in pain, and several of the other paintings captured the essence of a personality, but do I see what the artist intended?

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is pretty much a perfect art book, from my perspective as an art ambassador and Ekphrastic poet. It is large (8.5 x 12"), but not heavy in terms of weight; all the written material is at the front so that the color plates are uninterrupted, and there are enough full-page, colored plates to quench the curiousity(pgs. 80-156). The written material itself is laid out beautifully and consists of three good essays and a transcript section in which the artist's models are interviewed in a group interview. Okay - now to the art itself - fascinating, unconventional portraiture that is sure to captivate the imagination even if one doesn't care for the style. I got a great response from an elderly woman with Alzheimer's - so much so that she asked to borrow the book! I'm happy to have discovered this important artist.

[Marjorie Elwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part of the book was devoted to essays on Neel's life and works and was the usual art critic's drivel that sounds pompous to the rest of us.

The second portion of the book was a fascinating verbatim conversation with some of those who Neel painted. This revealed much more about the artist.

The third portion was the collection of plates. Being a catalog of a retrospective exhibit, it had a number of paintings that I hadn't seen before.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did not have enough time to read thoroughly, but definitely want to go back to read more closely. Fantastic...a lot of information, a large selection of works, lots of photos, and much new information from what I've found in other books.

[Stephan Ferreira · Rating 4 out of 5]

This might not be exactly the version I have.