I must go and see the current Alice Neel (1900-1984) retrospective exhibition at London’s Whitechapel Gallery which runs until September. Of all the portrait painters I look at, for me she is the most compelling modern one. Despite painting so many portraits myself, there are not many modern portrait painters I really like. Too many can seem too academic, or obsessed with obtaining a likeness from slavishly copying from photographs. Too ‘A’ level...
Alice Neel’s portraits in oil have none of these characteristics. They have a raw directness and an often intense psychological feeling. With their often heightened colour, exciting, expressive brushwork and often wonky drawing they possess a real compelling energy that seems to really bring the subject to life. I also enjoy the way Neel depicts the sitter’s clothes and hairstyles. There appears to be a real relationship between these and the bodies inside them. They also make the paintings seem a real document of their times and give the images a real warmth and charm.
I’d love to get more of these qualities in some of my own portrait paintings. I think the fact that she painted directly from the model ( at least I think she did) helps get that energy and feeling in the work, whereas I just draw with the sitter and then make my painting from this experience back in the studio alone. I like to play around with the drawings too, exploring scale, colour and composition. Besides, I just don’t have the time to work with a sitter for so long because of my job. I have therefore developed ways of working to compensate for this. And yet....I have been thinking for some years of painting more directly from the subject, not just in my portraits but also in my other work. Maybe seeing Alice Neel’s exhibition will give me the motivation I need to get past these obstacles and bring some changes to my approach...
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