“I am this century,” said the American painter Alice Neel. And although her life covers most of the 20th century (she lived from 1900-1984) she was neither a prophet in her own country, nor her own time. While abstract art flourished on the American scene, Neel stuck to a figurative, real-naive idiom. It was only on the eve of a long life as an artist that she finally gained wider recognition. This autumn, the Munch Museum is showing a comprehensive presentation with this unconventional artist, who made portraiture his very speciality. FROM THE 1920s: An early work shows Neel’s extraordinary painterly ability: How she manages to stylize and simplify, and let the light live in the surface. Here she works purely painterly and has not yet established her unique expression with a clear outline. Photo: Ethan Palmer “ART SHIELDS”, 1951: With a distinct sense of color and a deep interest in her fellow human beings, she brings out the model’s personality. Photo: The Estate of Alice Neel “GERARD MALANGA” (1969): In this picture we see how she has painted her arm and hand several times. She has not bothered to remove the first attempt. For Neel, in any case, it is the expression of the soul, and not these unimportant details, that is important. Photo: Courtesy of the Locks Foundation “BLACK DRAFTEE (JAMES HUNTER)”, 1965: She often leaves parts of the image unprocessed as if to emphasize the live and processual nature of her images. Photo: The Estate of Alice Neel For me, it was truly a great experience to step into the strong personal gallery that unfolds to its full width on the museum’s ninth floor. From before, I only had a very superficial knowledge of this extremely interesting artist. Strong personal gallery What strikes me is how clumsily, yet powerfully, Neel draws his models. Not infrequently, the proportions have gone completely wrong. Throughout, for example, the heads are far too large in relation to the bodies, and it appears as if she has seen the body and head from two different perspectives. Nevertheless, she manages in a masterful and immediate way to portray these people so that they really appear alive and believable. “GEOFFREY HENDRICKS AND BRIAN”, 1978: Here she has painted a Fluxus artist with her partner. We really get a sense of the two very different personalities. Photo: Malcolm Varon “CHILDBIRTH” (1939): Without explicit means, Neel depicts the violent, bodily dissolution that birth can be. Here a tired, sweaty woman with dark circles under her eyes and with breasts so swollen they look as if they might explode. Photo: MUNCHMUSEET “THE WELLESLEY GIRLS”, 1967: We have no idea what these models look like, yet we believe in the portrait as the depiction of these people. She convinces us with her extraordinary ability to call out the people on the screen. Photo: Kerry McFate MOTHER AND CHILD: Alice Neel paints mothers with their children over and over again. The strong but also fragile family ties. The fact that the child is completely at the mercy of his parents is a recurring theme. Photo: Malcolm Varon PAINTED TO LIVE: news’s reviewer is delighted with Neel’s ability to capture the unique features of the people she paints, as in the work “Pregnant Julie and Algis” (1967). Photo: The Munch Museum She paints “wrong” in the “right” way. If these portraits had been anatomically correct and “good at school”, much of the strange intensity and strength of expression would probably have been lost. From explicit to implicit politics Neel began as a political slogan artist, with images that conveyed an explicit expression of protest, but eventually developed an individualized idiom, where the political is more implicit. CLEAR MESSAGE: “Nazis Murder Jews” from 1936 shows activists marching with slogans through the streets of New York. Photo: Ethan Palmer With deep curiosity and respect, she portrayed people from different walks of life: everything from her own family members, prominent bohemians, artists and queer icons, to destitute mothers with their children, immigrants and sex workers. Her portraits are profound and psychologically very interesting. I stop at a family portrait that is so alive and full of possible stories. There is a family of three. A mother in a short dress over nylon stocking clad legs with high heels. Photo: The Munch Museum I immediately think that she doesn’t feel seen and confirmed that her slightly introverted husband, who is sitting next to her with his arm around a heartbreakingly thin teenage daughter, who would probably like to be somewhere else entirely. Intrusively sensual Alice Neel’s pictures have an almost intrusive sensuality. I love the painting that shows a naked, pregnant woman in bed with her husband. IN THE DETAILS: Here we see a naked couple, obviously tired after intercourse. The man, who has an oddly shaped and strikingly slender genital organ, is holding a bunch of grapes. There is something about the link between the fruit and the genitals that makes me uneasy and uncomfortable. Photo: The Munch Museum There is so much in her intense gaze, and her vulnerable nudity. Although the bodies here are also strangely rendered purely anatomically, the couple is so alive that we can literally smell their bodies. “Every person is a new universe” gives us a unique opportunity to become acquainted with an important artistry that deserves much more attention than it has received. news reviewer: Photo: Munchmuseet Exhibition: “Every person is a new universe” Artist: Alice Neel (1900-1984) Curator: Ute Kuhlemann Falck Location: Munchmuseet, Oslo Time: On display until 26 November 2023 Estimated time: 40-60 minutes
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“Every person is a new universe” by Alice Neel at the Munch Museum – Reviews and recommendations
