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Even during this happy occasion, there is a pensive quality about the woman, as if she is contemplating the rigors of raising two babies at once. There are splashes of color, but the dark background is extremely prominent, and the baby nursing indicates the continuation of life and family, all themes that played strongly in Neel's personal life as well as her painting. She often paints families and children, and this almost compulsion to paint families indicates how important they were to her, and ultimately indicates that the loss of her child affected her work throughout her life.
It is interesting to note that Neel's work did not really begin to sell steadily or gain real notoriety until the 1970s. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter presented her with a National Women's Caucus for Art award for outstanding achievement, and her popularity gained right up until her death. Up until the 1970s, however, she actually sold very few paintings, and her work remained on the "fringe," a little too odd for many people to understand or purchase. It is also notable that her granddaughter, Elizabeth Neel, is also an artist who has exhibited her work in several galleries.
Alice...
Critic Nemser quotes Neal, "The place where I had freedom was when I painted. When I painted I was completely and utterly myself. For that reason it was extremely important to me. It was more than a profession. It was even a therapy, for there I just told it as it was" (Nemser 107). Even today, that telling it as it was is apparent in her works, and it one of the things that sets her work apart from other female artists of the 20th century. Alice Neel died in 1984, and her work continues to gain popularity today. In fact, a film highlighting her life and work was recently made and just ran in New York City, which indicates the timeless quality her paintings still have today.
References
Cork, Richard. "Sitting for Sanity: Richard Cork on How Alice Neel Painted Her Way out of Mental Breakdown." New Statesman 21 June 2004: 41+.
Editors. "Alice Neel Biography." Alice.Neel.com. 2008. 13 June 2008. http://www.aliceneel.com/biograph.html
Nemser, Cindy. Art Talk: Conversations with 15 Women Artists. Revised ed. New York: Icon Editions, 1995.
Platt, Susan. "Pictures of People: Alice Neel's American Portrait Gallery." Art Journal 58.2 (1999): 107+.
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