Alice Neel, one of the great portraitists of the 20th century, made starkly honest paintings of relatives, lovers, friends, and neighbors. A successor to the expressionism of Chaim Soutine, Edward Munch, and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Neel used distorted drawing and invented color to reveal the character beneath each sitter’s physical appearance. Neel worked in obscurity for most of her career, painting a range of locals from salesmen to the homeless, but during the last two decades of her life, she finally gained recognition, receiving many honors and awards. Her later paintings include portraits of celebrity artists like Andy Warhol and Marisol, as well notable people such as Mayor Ed Koch and Bella Abzug.
