Annotated Bibliography

"Alice Neel". UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography. FindArticles.com. 01 Feb 2009.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5229/is_2003/ai_n19152543
Like most artists, Alice Neel had several unique life experiences under her belt. She had a daughter that died of diphtheria, a husband that left her, a roommate that ruined her works, and parents that did not want their daughter to become an artist. Just like viewers bring their life experiences into their interpretations, artists put theirs into their paintings. One could say that Alice Neel definitely brought a lot to the canvas. It is said that she painted what she saw. This makes so much sense when you look at “The Last Sickness”. It looks like the subject is sick and frustrated which must be what Neel saw. Of course, Neel was influenced by the world around her as well. The political situation of WWII led her to paint “Nazis Murder Jews”. And her daughter’s death also inspired some portraits. I was surprised to find that for most of Neel’s career she was not popular. When she died Neel actually still owned most of her work. A strong explanation for this is that she mostly painted the common person most of whom could not afford to buy her paintings. However, this did not bother Neel because she seemed to use painting as an outlet and at one point she called it an obsession even though it was her profession.

Nadel, Alyssa. “Alice Neel”. 01 Feb 2009
http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Neel__Alice.html
Born to Alice Concross Hartley and George Washington Neel, Alice Neel had her work cut out for her. Her parents were of the conservative mindset. Her mother was under the impression that Neel was just a woman, so her life was predetermined for her. Alice Neel thoroughly proved her mother wrong. Neel seemed to be consistently conforming to her own image. As she created her artwork, it did not fit in with the art of the times. In her paintings Neel had a habit of portraying intense and honest emotion. Several of her works are of nude “sitters”; she even did her self portrait nude at the age of eighty. Because of her honest portrayal the viewer can easily take the emotions detected in the paintings literally. It seems as if Neel is one of the many artists that gain popularity after their death. While she did exhibit her work during her career, today her work is shown all across the U.S. and throughout the globe.

“The Art of Alice Neel”. 06 Sept 2008. 01 Feb 2009.
http://tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa668.htm
Yet again, it is known that Alice Neel had an adventurous life. When her husband left he took her daughter and she was never to see Isabetta again. Because of these events it is no wonder that Neel attempted suicide after experiencing a nervous breakdown. This leads me to conclude that because of Alice Neel’s numerous experiences throughout life she became very empathetic. With such a great sense of empathy Neel is readily able to convey the subject’s emotions straight from the canvas to the eyes of the viewer. Her mother appears to not have been the most supportive of Neel’s career. With that being said it seems that Alice Neel was really able to put herself in her mother’s position as she painted “The Last Sickness”. In this painting Neel is able to capture the “fear and discomfort” that her mother feels towards the end of her life.