Alice Neel (1900–1984) is widely regarded as one of the foremost American figurative artists of the twentieth century. As the avant-garde of the 1940s and 1950s renounced representation, Neel developed her unique approach to the human body, creating daringly honest paintings of the world around her: her family, friends, neighbors, art world colleagues, writers, poets, artists, actors, activists, and more. These forthright, intimate works engage overtly and quietly with political and social issues.