There is something overwhelmingly intimate about gazing at Neel’s portraits. Perhaps it can be attributed to how her subjects seem close enough to the edge of the canvas to touch, or how their facial expressions are charged with the vulnerability of truly being seen.
Als emphasises how the affective characteristic of Neel’s portraits has reverence today, 'I think people have always been interested in portraiture, but given the desperation of these times, politically and otherwise, the sane people of the world – the true humanists – want to seek out and hold all those others who are in the swim of being alone. Alice Neel gave us the opportunity to touch and understand each other, even if for a little bit.'
Image: Alice Neel with Jackie Curtis and Ritta Redd in front of Neel’s Jackie Curtis and Ritta Redd, 1970 at Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, 1971
Photographer unknown
Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel
