Today I visited the MET for the second time this year to see the newest exhibition – Alice Neel: People Come First.
Alice Neel (1900 – 1984) is an American female artist, reputed as “one of the most radical artist” and “one of the greatest portrait artists” of the 20th century. She is famous for her portraits of “ordinary people” that she encountered in her daily life, including her family, friends and neighbors. This exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum marks her first museum retrospective in New York in twenty years. The expansive exhibition has about 100 artworks including oil paintings, drawings and watercolor paintings.
Neel lived in New York City for over 60 years in different neighborhoods including upper west side, Spanish Harlem, Bronx and Meatpacking district. She was deeply attracted by the diverse people she met everyday including children, women, LGBTQ+ community, immigrants and people of color. Many of them are just “ordinary people” that are often not recognized individually in detail in artworks.
Her paintings tend to combine bright colors and unrestricted, Van Gogh-like expressive brushstrokes to show the “real” characters of people, with a little bit of humor, and lots of empathy. To me, the most appealing works of Neel are the paintings about Motherhood. With neither the glamorous poses at professional maternity photo shooting sessions, nor the holy halo in the Madonna paintings in classical art, the mothers in Neel paintings have anxious faces, out-of-shape nude bodies with visible veins on the breasts. A true reflection of the maternity experience.
“It’s a very important part of life and it was neglected. I feel as a subject it’s perfectly legitimate, and people out of false modesty, or being sissies, never showed it.” – Alice Neel
Looking into Neel’s portraits, I’m always captivated by the stories behind every “ordinary” New Yorkers. The city isn’t the cleanest, and life here can be really frustrating at times, but looking around, one could always see the determination, relentlessness and hopes on people’s faces as they are living so energetically for a better future.
These “ordinary people” are who made the city the most vibrant, dynamic and inspiring on this planet.
“Every corner has a story.”
Glamorous Journey 