Alice Neel

Mildred 1937, Oil on Canvas

Alice Neel is one of my favorite figure painters. It's so hard to choose a painting of hers to post, I highly recommend seeking her out in a library or bookshop, you need time to pour over her paintings.

Ms. Neel was born in Pennsylvania in 1900. She had a tumultuous personal life by the 1930s and spent some time in psych hospitals. She was a mother, wife, Divorcee and all the while was painting, primarily portraits. She began doing a lot of children's portraits upon the arrival of her 1st grandchild, Olivia in the mid 1960s. She painted many nudes and pregnant women. She is now deceased.