Alice Neel – Frieze Masters

‘I don’t think Alice ever set out to “represent” anything. She painted her myriad, layered worlds. But what I loved – what I saw in the queer pictures – was a kind of family of difference, men and women and others who may have had relatively little understanding in America at that time but complete understanding in Alice’s universe.’

– Hilton Als talking to Wallpaper* about At Home: Alice Neel in the Queer World

Neel met the celebrated American writer and Beat poet Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) in 1959 on the set of Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie's film Pull My Daisy, in which they both appeared alongside other Beat poets and artists. In this work (painted by Neel from memory after seeing Ginsberg perform with Dr. Timothy Leary in 1966) the poet sits cross-legged next to a glowing candle, his torso and open-mouthed face surrounded by abstract, orb-like forms. The composition mimics the gritty, improvisational, and often frenetic style of poetry that Ginsberg and the Beats were known for, and speaks to the hallucinatory quality of their performances at the time.

A leading member of the Beat generation of writers who emerged around 1944 out of Columbia University, Ginsberg moved to San Francisco in the 1950s and, in 1956, published his best-known poem, Howl, to both great acclaim and controversy; in 1957 there was an obscenity trial against the poem due to its content, much of which was based on Ginsberg's relationship with the poet Peter Orlovsky (1933-2010). In his work, Ginsberg wrote openly about his identity and gay desire, in effect challenging the obscenity laws of the time and paving the way for younger LGBTQIA+ artists and writers to express themselves freely. Ginsberg read a poem at the memorial service held for Neel after her death in 1984 at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Alice Neel with Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky on the set of Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie’s Pull My Daisy, 1959. Artwork © John Cohen Trust, courtesy L. Parker Stephenson Photographs, New York

Edward Avedisian (1937–2006) was a prominent abstract painter who was active in the 1960s New York art scene, having moved to the city from Boston in the late 1950s. With his friend, the artist Robert Smithson, Avedisian would attend Neel's exhibition openings during this time. As she recalled, 'I used to call Edward Avedisian "angel face".' Here, Avedisian is seen seated in a relaxed pose with a look of indifference on his youthful face. Neel renders his features and clothing – red striped cardigan, shirt and tie, dark trousers – in careful detail that contrasts with the loosely painted background.

‘…that blue line for which she is known – a quiet ache, a pathos, a vividness limning each body. She was the best at what she did and what she did best was push paint around in order to describe a subject’s vitality and distinctness of presence.’ 

– Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer, reviewing At Home: Alice Neel in the Queer World in Artforum

Paul Kuyer was a good friend of Neel’s whom she met through her longtime friend John Rothschild. At the time these works were completed, Kuyer was editor of The Civil Service Leader, a magazine for public employees. Neel recalled that he had considered becoming a priest and was a lover of opera; the duo attended the Metropolitan Opera together on at least one occasion. In 1959 Neel made two paintings of Kuyer: one more unfinished than most of her work, which highlights her economy of line; and a related, more fully composed work. Both paintings show Kuyer, his face serene, wearing a high-collared coat reminiscent of priestly garments.