Alice Neel’s emotional, thoughtful paintings and portraiture helped her to become one of the most renowned artists of the twentieth century, with her work still receiving praise and admiration to this day. One common trait in most of Neel’s portraits is her style of painting her subject as he or she appeared. She never tried to “glamorize” or “touch up” any of her portraits to give her subjects a false appearance. Her life put her through hardship and sorrow but times of joy and happiness as well; her life experiences helped to rouse ideas for her portraiture. Her portraits genuinely embody the human condition.
After losing her first child, Santillana, to diphtheria in 1927, attempting suicide in the early 1930’s, and being estranged from her first husband in 1934, Neel was no stranger to hardship and sadness, even in the earlier years of her life. One of her love interests, Kenneth Doolittle, went into a violent rage and burned more than 300 of her paintings, which, in itself, was surely a remarkably traumatic experience for the artist. Some of Neel’s most notable paintings during this time were "Requiem" and "Isabetta." However, not everything in life was gloomy and tragic for Neel. During these tribulations, she had given birth to another daughter, Isabetta, and would later have two sons, Richard and Hartley.
The death of Neel’s father, George Washington Neel, directly inspired her sullen, almost eerie portrait, "Dead Father," in 1946. However, one can tell, especially in observing the portrait, that Neel had respect for her father. Less than a decade later, Neel’s mother, Alice Concross Hartley, passed on as well, inspiring what is perhaps one of Neel’s most dynamic, melancholy, and intriguing portraits she has ever produced: "Last Sickness." The expression on her mother’s face possesses almost a mysterious sort of aura, which leaves the viewer to contemplate what Neel was trying to express in the painting. The most obvious emotion in the painting is sadness, but the expression could also be translated as exhaustion, fear, or horror. This painting truly teaches one how to analyze the facial expression of a person.
Neel’s portraiture had more aspects of family throughout the 1960’s and early 1970’s as both of her sons got married and had children. Neel’s "Mother and Child," also known as "Nancy and Olivia," depicts Richard’s wife, Nancy, and his daughter, Olivia. Toward the end of the 1970’s and into the early 1980’s, Neel was gaining more fame and recognition, as she appeared on the "Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" and was given the National Women’s Caucus for Art Award by President Jimmy Carter. Neel’s death in 1984 by no means marked the end of appreciation for her art and talent. Exhibitions showcasing her work are still put on today, as her works and portraiture continue to mesmerize and fascinate many people.
Prompts:
1) What about Alice Neel and her life and art intrigues you the most?
2) Look at Neel’s portraits My Mother and Last Sickness. I mostly picked up on the elements of sadness and old age in these portraits, but what other emotions could be drawn out from the two portraits? What might stand out to you?
3) Do you believe, in the long run, that Neel let the turbulence in her life positively or negatively affect her attitude and her Art?
4) If Alice Neel was still alive today, what questions would you most likely want to ask her? Explain.
Please Note:
Most of Neel’s most notable paintings can be found at: http://www.aliceneel.com/gallery/
Last Sickness can be found at: http://www.tfaoi.com/am/14am/14am323.jpg
The most intriguing part of Alice Neel’s personal life and artwork is how they intertwine together and are reflective of one another. By this, I do not simply mean that Neel painted the scenes she saw in her everyday life (scenes from the streets of Spanish Harlem), but rather that her art is expressive of her feelings at the time she created it. An example of this from the presentation was after Neel lost her first born daughter to diphtheria, her artwork utilized dark, somber colors and her subjects appear rough and undefined. I can only imagine the intense grief and misery a new mother must feel when she loses her first born child and I believe that these feelings are expressed through Neel’s canvas. After Neel’s first husband abandoned her and her lover went into a rage and burned over 300 of her paintings, Neel created Requiem which again portrays sadness and despair. As Neel’s life begins to turn around and she has two sons, Neel creates images that are more defined and plays around with brighter colors. Examples of these are Cows, Philodendra, and her other various portraits. I find it interesting that although Neel did not paint scenes directly relating to her personal life, she was still able to reflect her feelings in these paintings.
ReplyDeleteWhen I look at My Mother and Last Sickness, I see hardships and sadness. Last Sickness was the painting that I did my “who is this person?” assignment on and when I look at that painting I truly see a woman waiting for the end to come and one who has suffered a lot throughout her life. Even after learning the title and artist, I still feel those emotions when viewing this painting. I also get a sense of how Neel feels about her mother from these images. She uses bright colors in the painting and yet the facial expression of her mother is one of immense despair. I believe the bright colors are representative of her mother’s life and the love that Neel felt towards her. The facial expression most likely portrays how her mother was actually feeling and how sad Neel was at the thought of losing another loved one.
Neel’s life was full of turbulence and I feel like there were times when it overpowered her and there were times when she was able to rise above it. The loss of her daughter, Santillana, was so traumatic that it affected her negatively enough to cause her to attempt suicide. There were other times, however, when Neel was able to continue on without much interruption to her life. An example of this was when her lover burned over 300 of her paintings. Despite this, Neel was able to continue painting and not let this setback affect her too much. Neel is a brilliant artist whose works of art can be seen as a window into the emotions Neel experienced throughout her lifetime.
Prompt 2:
ReplyDeleteBy looking at Neel’s paintings of My Mother and Last Sickness I get a sense that their relationship was not particularly close. Neel’s mother is not looking directly at her in either of the portraits which causes me to feel like there is a distance between the pair. I too sensed the sadness in the portraits. The feeling of sadness could be from Neel and her mother regretting they did not have a closer relationship and that they were running out of time to really become close like some mothers and daughters. It seems to me that Neel’s mother is longing to be with someone else in these portraits. Maybe she misses her husband, or another family member. Neel’s mother looks unsettled. Perhaps she doesn’t feel ready to die, or is simply not content in her old age. Either way, I have a difficult time picturing Neel comforting her mother because there seems to be a lot of tension between them.
Prompt 3:
Every person encounters obstacles throughout their life. A person’s character is definitely shaped by how they deal with the trials and tribulations that life throws their way. Alice Neel clearly ran into her share of challenges. While it can be seen that each experience set her back in some way, I think she came out of them a better person. Her art shows us that sometimes in her life she was sad and even depressed. However, other pieces of her art show us that she was happy and pleased with her life at the time. I definitely think that Alice Neel took her experiences and grew from them in a positive way. She continued pursuing her passion of art throughout her entire life which shows that she never gave up on her dreams even though her life was not perfect. In the photograph you showed us of her with her sons in 1984, shortly before her death, captures her attitude so well. She looks very happy to have lived a live full of experiences, good and bad, which shaped her. Her last self portrait also captures this attitude of happiness. Without the turbulence she experienced I think her career would have lacked the personality that made her so popular.
Prompt 4:
If Alice Neel was alive and I had an opportunity to speak with her, I would have so many questions. First I would ask her if she was content with her life and accomplishments. I am really curious if she had any goals that she still wanted to accomplish. I would definitely talk to her about meeting President Carter and what that was like. We would discuss her awards and the ones that she was most proud to have. I would ask which experience in her life influenced her most. I am also curious if she thought that her experiences influenced her art and whether that influence was good or bad. I would talk to her about fame and how it changed her life. Did she have a lot of support behind her art from the beginning, or did it grow on people? It would be really interesting to actually have the opportunity to learn the answers to some of these questions.
Kyle, thank you for giving all of us a glimpse of a very interesting artist. Your presentation was well-crafted and your delivery was just right for the subject matter. For the paper, I am sure you have a handle on everything, just make sure to stress the character Neel evokes. The power she holds seems to stem from how the viewer relates to the feelings and hardships of the person in the portraits.
ReplyDeleteTo me, what seems to embody the work and life of Neel is hardship. There is an unwavering feeling of exhaustion and regret in her works. It would be quite surprising if her own life did not mirror at least some of these hardships. I think this intrigues me, as well as most people that view Neel’s art, because we all have our own heart filled with difficulties. Most of us have seen the loss of a loved one, or financial woes beyond our control. That connection between the art and the viewer is priceless.
Of all of Neel’s portraits, My Mother and Last Sickness are the most telling of emotion. Just the sheer agony portrayed is enough to melt even the coldest person’s heart. But beyond the tragedy there also appears some semblance of hope. The passage of time is readily apparent, and the mother in the portraits clarifies that everything must pass. We as the viewer must move on. The suffrage of this woman cannot stand in our way to paving the future, as cruel as such an action may be. Somehow I think she knows that this is what must happen. She’s given in to the fact that she cannot hope for others to give her a quantum of solace.
Formative events shape almost every bit of art that exists. And because of this, Neel’s own downfalls were shown in her portraiture. This could be seen as either good or bad in a variety of ways. The raw emotion evoked is greater when the same is given to the piece by the artist. Therefore, I feel her angst was critical to the morose pictures she produced. However, it is hard to guess whether this truly would have changed her subject matter.
It is hard to imagine what questions I would ask of Neel. I am sure she would be an interesting person to share knowledge with. The breadth of her work and her life are astonishing. I suppose I would inquire to the way she saw her subjects. Did she pity them, or feel as though they were much like her? I would also love to know if she painted for a release of her inner demons. By painting the hardships, perhaps she was able to clear them from her mind.
All in all, I would love to learn more about Neel. Like most of the artists we have looked at, there is an air of mystery about her. Lifting that veil as much as possible is all you can do as the researcher, and it seems as though you have fulfilled this task. Good luck on the final research paper and carpe diem!
The one thing I find the most interesting about Alice Neel’s life and art is the relationship she had with her mother. A lot of men are not aware of the special relationship that occurs between a mother and a daughter. In fact, not many women realize how unique their relationship is until it is too late, which what I think happened to Neel. I, myself, am new at realizing this too. It was not until I left for college, that I realized that my mother is possibly the best friend I have ever had, and probably will ever have. During Alice’s life though, I got the impression that she seriously took her mother for granted and felt that what her mother knew was obsolete. But when you mentioned that quote about her mother knowing more than the scholars she was meeting with, this seemed like the moment when Alice Neel really noticed that her mother was so much more.
ReplyDeleteIn the portraits of her mother I feel that is very evident. In her first one, it is almost like she portrays her as this innocent, naïve, little, old woman. She does look sad in the first one, but I feel there is so much more going on in Last Sickness. This was actually the portrait I chose for the Who is that Person assignment. When I first looked at this portrait, I did get the impression that the woman was sad partially because her life was coming to a stop and that was inevitable. However, when I took a closer look, there was a lot more that became apparent. Mainly, in Neel’s mother’s eyes I saw what seemed to be disappointment, but not in herself. It was disappointment in that of a loved one, but there was also nothing she could do about who ever let her down. With the knowledge of how Neel ended up feeling about her mother, I think the disappointment in her eyes was directed at her daughter. I believe that because Alice Neel pretty much took her mother for granted her entire life, her mother was upset that she did not mean more to her when she was younger and had time left. I do see sadness in this portrait, but I never saw it as her feeling sorry for herself. I still her as very accepting of her fate, but her sorrow is more focused on how she wishes she could have had a better relationship with her daughter, especially since Alice had a lot of issues she dealt with.
It is very tough to say whether or not she positively or negatively affected by the occurrences in her life. I think at times she was affected negatively, like when she tried to commit suicide. In the long run though, I think she learned to live with what happens and not take the little things for granted. I think the main factor in a changed attitude she may have had was the loss of her parents. Losing her first child, I have no doubt, would be difficult, but I think because she did not have her for too long, it was not as big of a moment as it was when she lost her parents. She had her parents her entire life, her daughter was only momentarily and she did have other children. That is just my opinion though.