Sally Stockhold

Alice Neel, Painting the Portrait of S. Stockhold

From “myselfportraits, ode to icons” Series
Hand-colored archival pigment print
Edition of 6 + 2 APs
Sally Stockhold © 2010

Alice Neel (1900-1984) Neel, the painter provocateur, is considered among the greatest portrait painters of the 20th century. Her painting defied the conventions of traditional portraiture. By use of distortion, flowing style, line, color and sense of place, Neel uncannily captured the person beneath the veneer. Neel painted when Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art were fashionable. Consequently, like many figurative painters of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, her work went unrecognized by the cognoscenti until late in her life. While she deeply appreciated the recognition, she did not seek material wealth nor did she receive it in her lifetime. “The minute I sat in front of a canvas I was happy. Because it was a world, and I could do what I liked with it.” Alice Neel

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