Serralves Museum, Porto, Portugal
July 16, 2026–January 17, 2027
Alice Neel: Beautifully Imperfect celebrates the work of Alice Neel, whose singular vision challenged the social, aesthetic, and political conventions of the 20th century. Neel viewed imperfection not as a flaw, but as an essence—a raw expression of the human condition and a response to normative models of beauty, identity, and visibility.
Presented in the Álvaro Siza Wing of the Serralves Museum and organized around thematic clusters, the exhibition explores intimacy, the female body, motherhood, aging, and the forgotten faces of society: from immigrants and LGBTQIA+ activists to the working-class population of Harlem and the anonymous figures of everyday urban life. In her expressive paintings—often seemingly unfinished—Neel captured not only portraits of individuals but also testimonies of resistance and dignity in the face of social erasure.
Beautifully Imperfect proposes itself as a way of looking at and being in the world—an invitation to authenticity and empathy through art. This exhibition reaffirms Serralves’s commitment to giving voice to artists whose work continues to inspire new ways of seeing and representing humanity.
Learn more at Serralves Museum.
