ALICE NEEL: Women
Carolyn Kinder Carr, Walter Brooks Drayton Henderson, . . Rizzoli, $45 (160pp) ISBN 978-0-8478-2480-9
Instantly recognizable near-grotesques, Neel's portraits may not be quite flattering, but they are always revealing, of subjects and the psycho-cultural space they inhabit. Collected here by Carr, deputy director of the National Portrait Gallery, these 125 crisply reproduced color plates draw an intense power via their restriction to women and girls: one can feel the artist meditating on (and sometimes seething about) what it means to be a woman. A portrait of the artist Isabel Bishop shows her in a simple blue wool dress, looking wryly askance. "Isabetta" shows a naked, pre-pubescent girl standing and staring directly at the viewer, like a powerfully defetishized Balthus. The paintings are organized by subject ("Mother and Child," "Pose," "Children," "Nudes") rather than chronology, and it's a decision that works—Neel's deliberate looks come across clearly through repetition of gesture and posture. Anyone turned off by Neel (1900–1984), should take a second look via this book; fans looking for a concentrated dose of Neel at her best should look no further.
Reviewed on: 11/25/2002
Genre: Nonfiction