Alice Neel: Uptown

For her, Harlem was never defined by poverty, it seems, but by life. (Mary Wang The Village Voice)The work in "Alice Neel, Uptown" exists in twofold: There is the exhibition of Neel's paintings, and then there is the accompanying publication in which her portraits are presented alongside Als's essays writings that bring Als, Neel, and her sitters on the same page. To Als, Neel and her portraits of her East Harlem neighbors are a prime example of the “unsentimental wonder” with which the artist must meet the world. It’s the portraits, after all, that Als has always found the most touchingNeel was simply painting the people she cared about,

Pulitzer Prize winner Hilton Als on Alice Neel’s quietly political portraits of her uptown New York neighborsKnown for her portraits of family, friends, writers, poets, artists, students, singers, salesmen, activists and more, Alice Neel (1900–84) created forthright, intimate and, at times, humorous paintings that quietly engaged with political and social issues. This group of portraits includes well-known figures such as playwright, actress and author Alice Childress, the sociologist Horace R. In Alice Neel, Uptown, wri

Desertwriter said Alice Neel's portrait genius. fabulous collection of Neel's artful portraits of friends and neighbors in Harlem.