Pictures of People Pictures of People Alice Neel’s American Portrait Gallery Pamela Allara Brandeis University Press Published by University Press of New England Hanover and London Brandeis University Press Published by University Press of New England, Hanover, NH 03755 © 1998 by the Trustees of Brandeis University All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America ISBN for paperback edition: 978–1–61168–513–8 ISBN for ebook edition: 978–1–61168–049–2 library of congress cataloging-in-publication data Allara, Pamela. Pictures of people : Alice Neel’s American portrait gallery / by Pamela Allara. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–87451–837–7 1. Neel, Alice, 1900– —Criticism and interpretation. 2. United States— Biography—Portraits. I. Neel, Alice, 1900– . II. Title. ND1329.N36A9 1998 97–18403 759.13—DC21 Throughout this book, “Estate of Alice Neel” includes works in the collections of Richard Neel, Hartley S. Neel, their respective families, and Neel Arts, Inc. 5432 NOTE TO EREADERS As electronic reproduction rights are unavailable for images appearing in this book’s print edition, no illustrations are included in this ebook. Readers interested in seeing the art referenced here should either consult this book’s print edition or visit an online resource such as aliceneel.com or artstor.org. vi CONTENTS illustrations included in the print edition ix acknowledgments xv Introduction: The Portrait Gallery xvii PART I: THE SUBJECTS OF THE ARTIST Chapter 1: The Creation (of a) Myth 3 Chapter 2: From Portraiture to Pictures of People: 13 Neel’s Portrait Conventions Chapter 3: Starting Out from Home, 1927–1932 29 vii viii / Contents PART II: NEEL’S SOCIAL REALIST ART: 1933–1981 Chapter 4: Art on the Left in the 1930s 45 Chapter 5: The Cold War Battles: 1940–1980 67 Chapter 6: El Barrio: Portrait of Spanish Harlem 90 PART III: THE NEW YORK ART NETWORK: 1960–1980 Chapter 7: A Gallery of Players: Artist-Critic-Dealer 111 Chapter 8: The Women’s Wing: Neel and Feminist Art 127 PART IV: THE EXTENDED FAMILY Chapter 9: Truth Unveiled: The Portrait Nude 147 Chapter 10: Shifting Constellations: The Family (Dis)Membered 162 notes 177 bibliography 213 photography credits 233 ILLUSTRATIONS INCLUDED IN THE PRINT EDITION Frontispiece: Jonathan Brand, Alice Neel Fig. 1. Anon., Mae West Fig. 2. Alice Neel, Annie Sprinkle Fig. 3. Alice Neel, Beggars, Havana Fig. 4. Alice Neel, Woman in Pink Velvet Hat Fig. 5. Otto Dix, The Journalist Sylvia von Harden Fig. 6. Robert Henri, Eva Green Fig. 7. Alice Neel, Two Black Girls (Antonia and Carmen Encarnacion) Fig. 8. Norman Rockwell, Richard Milhous Nixon Fig. 9. Alice Neel, Sol Alkaitis Fig. 10. Alice Neel, Fuller Brush Man Fig. 11. Alice Neel, Ginny Fig. 12. Alice Neel, Richard in the Era of the Corporation Fig. 13. Alice Neel, Benny and Mary Ellen Andrews Fig. 14. Edgar Degas, Edmondo and Therese Morbilli Fig. 15. Alice Neel, Bessie Boris Fig. 16. Alice Neel, Last Sickness ix x/Illustrations in the Print Edition Fig. 17. Alice Neel, The Family Fig. 18. Alice Neel, Helen Merrell Lynd Fig. 19. Anon., “Cross-Section of a Parisian House” Fig. 20. Alice Neel, The Intellectual Fig. 21. Alice Neel and Fanya Foss outside of Foss’s Greenwich Village bookstore Fig. 22. Charles Demuth, Scene after Georges Stabs Himself with the Scissors Fig. 23. Alice Neel, Well-Baby Clinic Fig. 24. Alice Neel, Requiem Fig. 25. Edvard Munch, The Scream Fig. 26. Alice Neel, Futility of Effort Fig. 27. Alice Neel, Suicidal Ward, Philadelphia General Hospital Fig. 28. Alice Neel, Symbols (Doll and Apple) Fig. 29. Alice and Isabetta, February 2, 1929, Sedgwick Avenue, The Bronx Fig. 30. Frida Kahlo, Henry Ford Hospital Fig. 31. Carlos Enriquez, Alice Neel Fig. 32. Carlos Enriquez, Isabetta Fig. 33. Alice Neel, Isabetta Fig. 34. Ben Shahn, The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti Fig. 35. Alice Neel, Snow on Cornelia Street Fig. 36. Alice Neel, Uneeda Biscuit Strike Fig. 37. Alice Neel, Nazis Murder Jews Fig. 38. Alice Neel, T. B. Harlem Fig. 39. Alice Neel, Sam Putnam Fig. 40. Anon., Sam Putnam, c. 1933 Fig. 41. Alice Neel, Max White Fig. 42. Alice Neel, Joe Gould Fig. 43. Alice Neel, Joe Gould Fig. 44. Alice Neel, Kenneth Fearing Fig. 45. Alice Neel, Pat Whalen Fig. 46. Nahum Tschacbasov, Deportation Fig. 47. Alice Neel, Childbirth or, Maternity Fig. 48. “Canvases . Are Sold for Junk” Fig. 49. Alice Neel, A Quiet Summer’s Day Fig. 50. Alice Neel, A Bird in Her Hair Fig. 51. Alice Neel, Judge Medina Fig. 52. Alice Neel, Angela Calomaris Fig. 53. Alice Neel, The Death of Mother Bloor Fig. 54. Alice Neel, Eisenhower, McCarthy, Dulles Illustrations in the Print Edition /xi Fig. 55. Alice Neel, Save Willie McGee (detail) Fig. 56. Shurpin, The Morning of Our Fatherland Fig. 57. Alice Neel, Sam Fig. 58. Alice Neel, Sam Fig. 59. Alice Neel, Mike Gold Fig. 60. Alice Neel, Art Shields Fig. 61. Alice Neel, Bill McKie Fig. 62. Alice Neel, Alice Childress Fig. 63. Alice Neel, Allen Ginsberg Fig. 64. Alice Neel, Mike Gold, In Memoriam Fig. 65. Alice Neel, David Gordon Fig. 66. Alice Neel, Virgil Thomson Fig. 67. Alice Neel, Jar from Samarkand Fig. 68. Alice Neel, The Soyer Brothers Fig. 69. Lida Moser, Alice Neel and Raphael Soyer at the Graham gallery Fig. 70. Alice Neel, Gus Hall Fig. 71. Komar & Melamid, Stalin in Front of a Mirror Fig. 72. Alice Neel, Call Me Joe Fig. 73. Alice Neel, Fire Escape Fig. 74. Alice Neel, José Fig. 75. Alice Neel, José (Puerto Rico Libre!) Fig. 76. Alice Neel, Alice and José Fig. 77. Alice Neel, José and Guitar Fig. 78. Alice Neel, Puerto Rican Mother and Child (Margarita and Carlitos) Fig. 79. Alice Neel, The Spanish Family Fig. 80. Dan Weiner, Morris Levinson, The President of Rival Dog Food and His Family Outside Their Home in Scarsdale Fig. 81. Alice Neel, Black Spanish-American Family Fig. 82. Alice Neel, Richard and Hartley Fig. 83. Alice Neel, Two Puerto Rican Boys Fig. 84. Alice Neel, Three Puerto Rican Girls Fig. 85. Alice Neel, James Farmer’s Children (Tami and Abbey Farmer) Fig. 86. Alice Neel, Georgie Arce Fig. 87. Alice Neel, Georgie Arce Fig. 88. Alice Neel, Georgie Arce Fig. 89. Alice Neel, Ballet Dancer Fig. 90. Alice Neel, Harold Cruse Fig. 91. Alice Neel, James Farmer xii / Illustrations in the Print Edition Fig. 92. Alice Neel, Abdul Rahman Fig. 93. Edward Hopper, Early Sunday Morning Fig. 94. Alice Neel, Fire Escape Fig. 95. “Broader Horizons,” 1920s; advertisement for A. T. & T. Fig. 96. Alice Neel, Rag in Window Fig. 97. Robert Frank, Parade, Hoboken, New Jersey Fig. 98. Alice Neel, Sunset in Spanish Harlem Fig. 99. Alice Neel, Snow Fig. 100. Alice Neel, 107th and Broadway Fig. 101. Alice Neel in Pull My Daisy Fig. 102. Alice Neel, Milton Resnick and Pat Pasloff Fig. 103. Alice Neel, Frank O’Hara, No. 2 Fig. 104. Alice Neel, Randall in Extremis Fig. 105. Alice Neel, Hubert Crehan Fig. 106. Alice Neel, Walter Gutman Fig. 107. Alice Neel, Red Grooms and Mimi Gross, No. 2 Fig. 108. Alice Neel, The Family (John Gruen, Jane Wilson, and Julia) Fig. 109. Larry Rivers, O’Hara Fig. 110. Alice Neel, Christopher Lazare Fig. 111. Charles Demuth, Distinguished Air Fig. 112. Alice Neel, Paul Kuyer Fig. 113. Alice Neel, Henry Geldzahler Fig. 114. Alice Neel, Andy Warhol Fig. 115. Alice Neel, Duane Hanson Fig. 116. Alice Neel, Robbie Tillotson Fig. 117. Alice Neel, Gerard Malanga Fig. 118. Alice Neel, Jackie Curtis and Rita Red Fig. 119. Alice Neel, David Bourdon and Gregory Battcock Fig. 120. Christopher Makos, Andy Warhol Fig. 121. Alice Neel, John Perreault Fig. 122. Thomas Eakins, Bill Duckett in the Rooms of the Philadelphia Art Students League Fig. 123. Alice Neel, Kate Millet Fig. 124. Alice Neel, Marxist Girl (Irene Peslikis) Fig. 125. Alice Neel, Jack Baur Fig. 126. Alice Neel, Nancy and the Rubber Plant Fig. 127. Alice Neel, Cindy Nemser and Chuck Fig. 128. Alice Neel, June Blum Fig. 129. Alice Neel, Bella Abzug Fig. 130. June Blum, Betty Friedan as the Prophet Fig. 131. Alice Neel, Linda Nochlin and Daisy Illustrations in the Print Edition / xiii Fig. 132. Alice Neel, Portrait of Ellen Johnson Fig. 133. Alice Neel, Marisol Fig. 134. Alice Neel, Louise Lieber, Sculptor Fig. 135. Alice Neel, Mary D. Garrard Fig. 136. Alice Neel, Faith Ringgold Fig. 137. Alice Neel, Sari Dienes Fig. 138. Alice Neel, Kanuthia Fig. 139. Alice Neel, Self-Portrait Fig. 140. Alice Neel, Ethel Ashton Fig. 141. Alice and Nadya in Greenwich Village Fig. 142. Alice Neel, Nadya Olyanova Fig. 143. Alice Neel, Nadya Nude Fig. 144. Alice Neel, Nadya and Nona Fig. 145. Alice Neel, Kenneth Doolittle Fig. 146. Alice Neel, Kenneth Doolittle Fig. 147. Alice Neel, Kenneth Doolittle Fig. 148. Alice Neel, Joie de Vivre Fig. 149. Alice Neel, untitled (Bathroom Scene) Fig. 150. Alice Neel, Alienation Fig. 151. Raphael Soyer, Nude Fig. 152. Alice Neel, Pregnant Maria Fig. 153. Alice Neel, Blanche Angel Pregnant Fig. 154. Cover, Ms. magazine, 1972 Fig. 155. Alice Neel, Pregnant Woman Fig. 156. Alice Neel, Margaret Evans Pregnant Fig. 157. Edvard Munch, Puberty Fig. 158. Alice Neel, Hartley Fig. 159. Alice Neel, Drafted Negro Fig. 160. Alice Neel, Thanksgiving Fig. 161. Alice Neel, Dead Father Fig. 162. Alice Neel, The Sea Fig. 163. Alice Neel, Cutglass Sea Fig. 164. Alice Neel, Sunset, Riverside Drive Fig. 165. Alice Neel, Dr. James Dineen Fig. 166. Alice Neel, Georgie Neel Fig. 167. Alice Neel, Annemarie and Georgie Fig. 168. Alice Neel, The Family Fig.