Alice Neel: The Art of Not Sitting Pretty

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Phoebe Hoban's biography of Alice Neel presents the compelling story of a pioneering American painter whose life encompassed the significant events of the twentieth century, including women's suffrage, the Depression, McCarthyism, the civil rights movement, and feminism. Neel consistently defied conventions, aiming to "capture the zeitgeist." Born into a Victorian family, she reached voting age during suffrage and became a quintessential bohemian artist, participating in the Easel Project of the Works Progress Administration to document the hardships of the Depression. As a committed humanist, she focused on figurative work even amid the rise of abstract expressionism, creating a unique chronicle of her era. Neel's subjects were diverse, ranging from notable figures like Joe Gould and Andy Warhol to her Spanish Harlem neighbors, reflecting a broad spectrum of twentieth-century America. Despite personal tragedies, including the loss of her daughter and struggles with mental health, Neel persevered. After years of obscurity, she gained recognition with a major retrospective at the Whitney Museum in 1974. This biography, now in paperback, not only details Neel's tumultuous life but also serves as a cultural history of twentieth-century New York, enriched by a new introduction that highlights her lasting significance.