Alice Neel: An Interview

Alice Neel (1900-1984) is known for portrait paintings of well-known persons and eccentric New York street types. Neel worked as a figurative painter throughout the decades of WPA realism, postwar abstract expressionism, 1960s Pop, and 1970s minimalism. She persevered in her work despite a turbulent personal life and critical neglect that continued until the 1960s. Neel lived and worked in New York City from 1932 until her death in 1984.

"In general, what I have tried to paint over the years is what Germans called the 'zeitgeist,' the spirit of the age. So, I have ones from the '30s, the '40s and on up to the '70s...they're all different. They change completely," Neel says in this interview with Kate Horsfield.

A historical interview originally recorded in 1975 and re-edited in 2003 with support from the Lyn Blumenthal Memorial Fund.