Alice Neel: People Come First
Alice Neel: People Come First
Only 1 available
Couldn't load pickup availability
Positioning Alice Neel as a champion of civil rights, this book explores how her paintings convey her humanist politics and capture the humanity, strength, and vulnerability of her subjects.
“For me, people come first,” Alice Neel (1900–1984) declared in 1950. “I have tried to assert the dignity and eternal importance of the human being.” This ambitious publication surveys Neel’s nearly 70-year career through the lens of her radical humanism. Remarkable portraits of victims of the Great Depression, fellow residents of Spanish Harlem, leaders of political organizations, queer artists, visibly pregnant women, and members of New York’s global diaspora reveal that Neel viewed humanism as both a political and philosophical ideal. In addition to these paintings of famous and unknown sitters, the more than 100 works highlighted include Neel’s emotionally charged cityscapes and still lifes as well as the artist’s erotic pastels and watercolors. Essays tackle Neel’s portrayal of LGBTQ subjects; her unique aesthetic language, which merged abstraction and figuration; and her commitment to progressive politics, civil rights, feminism, and racial diversity. The authors also explore Neel’s highly personal preoccupations with death, illness, and motherhood while reasserting her place in the broader cultural history of the 20th century.
About the Authors
Kelly Baum is Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Curator of Contemporary Art, and Randall Griffey is curator of modern and contemporary art, both at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Product Details
Product Details
- Written by Kelly Baum, and Randall Griffey, with contributions by Meredith A. Brown, Julia Bryan-Wilson, and Susanna V. Temkin
- Product Type: Exhibition Catalog, Hardcover
- 256 pages, with 201 illustrations
- Publication Date:
- Shipping Dimensions:
11.5
× 8.0
(29.2 × 20.3 cm) - Shipping Weight: 5.0 lb (80.0 oz; 2268 g)
- SKU010004872 | ISBN: 9781588397256
Members Save 10%
Members Save 10%
Chrysler Museum members save 10% off when signed in. Use discount code MEMBER10 at checkout.
Not a member? Join today and receive member benefits.
Thank You for your Support
Thank You for your Support
Your purchase supports the mission and programs of the Chrysler Museum of Art (including the Perry Glass Studio, and the Moses Myers House). We couldn't do what we do without you. Thank you.






