Annotated Bibliography

Berger, M (2001, January). About the artist: Alice Neel biography. Retrieved February 1, 2009, from Michael Berger Gallery Web site: http://www.mbergerart.com/neel/about.htm

This web site was an excellent source for information about Alice Neel’s personal life as well as how most of the American public viewed her work. Alice Neel was married twice and had multiple children. Her first husband once destroyed three hundred of her paintings in a fit of rage. I also learned that Neel did not paint portraits of celebrities but instead of people she knew and cared about. She painted at home because she could not afford a studio and it was not until the 1970s that her work began to get the recognition it deserved. Neel was also very careful about the details in her paintings, she typically made the backgrounds simplistic and when she included something it was for a specific purpose. Also, Neel would exaggerate certain facial features, in particular the eyes, to reveal her own personal insights. She never used photographs and worked exclusively from memory.

Unknown, (2008). Biography. Retrieved February 1, 2009, from Alice Neel Web site: http://www.aliceneel.com/biography/

This web site contains the biography of Alice Neel with links to each decade of her life from her birth in 1900 to her death in 1984. I paid particular attention to the 1950s because her portrait, Last Sickness, was created in 1953. Although it does not specify that the portrait is of Neel’s mother, it can be assumed that she was at the very least an influence. In 1953 Neel’s mother moved in with her and her children and then the next year her mother passed away from complications from a broken hip. The web site also went into detail about Neel’s left-winged ideas and how she would paint black activists and supporters of the women’s rights movement. She had strong political views that she was not afraid to show in her portraits and paintings. This site also included a gallery of Neel’s paintings and multiple articles written about her.

Unknown, (2008, September 6). the Art of Alice Neel. Retrieved February 1, 2009, from Whitney Museum of American Art Web site: http://tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa668.htm

This web site includes detailed information about her family life along with facts about her artwork. It explained that she lived in Havana, Cuba with her first husband and their first daughter died a year after birth. Neel lost her second daughter in the divorce and she tried to commit suicide. She then moved to the Spanish Harlem and had two sons. Neel was employed to paint the homeless during the Great Depression and these events have helped her to develop a style of compassion and freedom. She was also a public speaker and began to get artist recognition in the 1970s. Neel painted portraitures of other artists including one of Andy Warhol. This article states that Last Sickness was a portrait of Neel’s mother during her final months. It portrays the fear and discomfort of her mother in a candid way. Neel considered herself both a “sympathetic or sometimes not so sympathetic translator” and a “collector of souls.”