David Zwirner is pleased to present two concurrent exhibitions of Alice Neel's work, the first since announcing its representation of her Estate: Alice Neel: Selected Works at David Zwirner (533 West 19th Street) and Alice Neel: Nudes of the 1930s at Zwirner & Wirth (32 East 69th Street).
Alice Neel (1900-1984) is widely regarded as one of the most important American painters of the twentieth century. As the American avant-garde of the 1940s and 50s renounced figuration, Neel reaffirmed her signature approach to the human body. Working from life and memory, Neel created daringly honest portraits of her family and friends, downtrodden neighbors and public figures, art-world colleagues and poets, lovers and strangers. Her choice of subjects was a reflection of her personal life and an expression of the political and social milieu in which she lived, rather than an intentional program. Through her choice of subjects, her work was engaged with issues related to gender and racial inequality, family dynamics, labor struggles, and violence. At the same time, her reexamination of the human body paralleled the cultural upheaval of the sexual revolution and women's movement: her work challenged the Western artistic tradition that regarded a woman's proper place in the arts as sitter or muse. Calling herself a "collector of souls," Neel is acclaimed for not only capturing the truth of the individual, but also reflecting the era in which she lived.