Hartley

1966

Alice Neel

Artist, American, 1900 - 1984

Alice Neel

Shown from the knees up, a man with light skin shaded with sage green sits in a carrot-orange, high-backed chair, looking at us in this stylized, vertical portrait. Brown hair sweeps across his forehead and his interlaced fingers rest on his head so his elbows splay to the sides. The green shading is especially noticeable in the contours of his face and the underside of his thin arms. One black eyebrow is slightly arched over pale silver eyes. His pink lips are closed in a straight line and there is the suggestion of a cleft in his chin. He wears a white tee shirt and khaki pants, and his knees are relaxed open. His chest is slightly sunken in as he leans into the chair. The chair and his body and features are outlined in black. Brushstrokes are noticeable throughout, and the background is especially loosely painted. Areas of watery lavender purple, pale blue, and tan suggest the structure of a room. Light falls onto the man from our left.
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A young man in a white t-shirt and khakis sits casually in an armchair, hands resting behind his head. He looks directly forward, and yet he seems to be looking past, preoccupied with thoughts.

Alice Neel is known for her striking portraits of people in her life. In this painting, she presents a view of her son, Hartley, in his first year of medical school. Hartley Neel has said that he was then at "a low point," balancing the exhaustion of intensive training with thoughts of the Vietnam War as a somber alternative.

Neel's portrait of her son serves as a clear example of her interest in exploring humanity in her art: "I have tried to assert the dignity and eternal importance of the human being."

On View

East Building Upper Level

Artwork overview

More About this Artwork

Article:  Alice Neel Painted People, Even in Their Absence

Author and art historian Katy Hessel on the American artist's portraits of her family.

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist [1900-1984]; purchased c. 1975 by Arthur M. Bullowa, New York; gift 1991 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1966

  • Alice Neel: Recent Paintings & Paintings from the Thirties, Graham Gallery, New York, 1966.

1974

  • Alice Neel, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1974, no. 31, as Hartley Neel.

1975

  • Alice Neel: The Woman and Her Work, George Museum of Art, The University of Georgia, Athens, September-October 1975, no. 39, repro.

  • Sons & Others: Women Artists See Men, The Queens Museum, Flushing, March-April 1975, no. 37, repro.

  • Alice Neel: Collector of Souls, Fair Lawn New Jersey Public Library, 1975-1976, repro. (no list in brochure).

1976

  • Paintings by three American Realists: Alice Neel, Sylvia Sleigh, May Stevens, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, 1976, no. 2.

1979

  • Alice Neel, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Indiana, 1979, no. 21.

1981

  • Alice Neel Paintings, Jorgensen Gallery, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1981 (no list in brochure, not one of repros.).

1982

  • Five Artists and the Figure, Whitney Museum of American Art Fairfield County, Stamford, Connecticut, 1982, unnumbered brochure.

2000

  • Alice Neel, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Denver Art Museum, 2000-2001, pl. 49.

2010

  • Alice Neel: Painted Truths, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Moderna Museet Malmö, Sweden, 2010-2011, no. 17, repro.

2016

  • Alice Neel: Painter of Modern Life, Ateneum Art Museum, Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki; Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague; Fondation Vincent van Gogh - Arles; Deichtorhallen Hamburg, 2016-2018, no. 43, repro.

2021

  • Alice Neel: People Come First, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young, Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 2021 - 2022, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1998

  • Allara, Pamela. Pictures of People, Alice Neel's, American Portrait Gallery. 1998: no. 158, repro.

Inscriptions

upper left reverse: Neel / '66

Wikidata ID

Q20196574

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