Alice Neel’s Portrait Pairings are a Frieze Week Highlight

Celebrated American figurative painter Alice Neel has a distinct flair for unveiling the personalities of her subjects—whether friends, family, lovers, or strangers.

Victoria Miro, who has represented the artist’s estate since 2004, brings together a selection of Neel’s works in a remarkable exhibition pairing portraits of the same sitters—some painted within a year of each other, while others decades apart.

What is especially striking about this show is the way the curation affords the viewer to assume Neel’s perceptive sensitivity. Evident are the stylistic shifts across Neel’s career, as well as her ability to capture her models in sincere, intimate depictions of body and soul.

Hartley (c. 1947) introduces the artist’s son: a wide-eyed boy with an uninhibited gaze. Painted 22 years later, Hartley with a Cat (1969) depicts Neel’s grown-up son cradling a cat, appearing perhaps more guarded than before.

In My Mother (1930), Neel presents her mother seated in a dark green chair, bearing what is possibly a stern expression. The later My Mother (1952) encapsulates a softening temperament, with Neel’s mother appearing more vulnerable with age.

A perceptive observer of the people and the world around her, Neel’s portrait pairings are a highlight of Frieze Week.

Alice Neel: There’s Still Another I See is now open at Victoria Miro London until 12 November.

Main image: Exhibition view: Alice Neel, There's Still Another I See, Victoria Miro, London (11 October–12 November 2022). Courtesy Victoria Miro.