COLLECTION NAME:
Graduate Thesis Collection
Record
Title:
The Autonomy and Identity Politics of Alice Neel’s Nude Portraits
Creator:
Landau-Smith, Anna
Subject:
Thesis (M.A.) -- Art History
Subject:
Savannah College of Art and Design -- Department of Art History
Rights:
Copyright is retained by the authors or artists of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Abstract:
"New York portrait artist Alice Neel (1900-1984) created a series of nude female portraits
that began in the summer of 1930 and continued throughout her career, ending with a nude self-portrait of the artist in 1980. In these portraits, the artist depicts not just the female form but also
the identity of the women she painted; she called herself a 'collector of souls' as she captured
the inner self of the sitter based on outward physical attributes. Neel removed the objectified
female form produced by patriarchal social paradigms of Western beauty in art, instead the
depiction of her subjects focused on the intangible aspects of life and her relationship with the
sitter. This thesis intends to argue that since Neel was a female artist creating female nude
portraits, her work may be viewed as disruptive of traditional power dynamics found in the
gendered representation of the female body by male artists as she explores the relationship
between artist, sitter, and viewer. Viewed today, Neel’s work may be seen as resistant to a
heteronormative patriarchal depiction of the female body where the male presence exerts a
power over a female sitter through societal norms of viewing. Instead, she focuses on the identity
and gender of the sitter as an individual outside of public performances of gender, through her
compositions, grotesque depictions of the body, and her commitment to capture the psychology
of the sitter. One painting in this collection of female nudes, 'Ethel Ashton' (1930) displays Neel’s style of honest portraiture emblematic of the series and Neel’s desire to accurately depict the essence
of the sitter without sexualizing or objectifying the female form, instead opting to represent an
authenticity of the body. Other works from the collection, like 'Sue Seely, Nude' (1943), 'Margaret
Evans Pregnant' (1978), and 'Self-Portrait' (1980) also expresses Neel’s use of manipulation of
the body to convey identity and honesty in representation and the self-consciousness of the
female form. This work, and her female nude series in general, provides an entry point for a
revisionist reading of relational power dynamics that come from the pleasure and power derived
from looking and places her work within a Postmodern Foucauldian and feminist theory
regarding the representation of the nude female body. This thesis will examine Alice Neel’s
female nudes in the context of the theories and histories relating to gender and identity, it will
argue that the portraits, through composition and depictions of the body and mind, offer
examples of the way in which this series problematizes the 'male gaze' in nude portraits and
how the hierarchical relationship between the 'looker' and the 'looked at.'”
that began in the summer of 1930 and continued throughout her career, ending with a nude self-portrait of the artist in 1980. In these portraits, the artist depicts not just the female form but also
the identity of the women she painted; she called herself a 'collector of souls' as she captured
the inner self of the sitter based on outward physical attributes. Neel removed the objectified
female form produced by patriarchal social paradigms of Western beauty in art, instead the
depiction of her subjects focused on the intangible aspects of life and her relationship with the
sitter. This thesis intends to argue that since Neel was a female artist creating female nude
portraits, her work may be viewed as disruptive of traditional power dynamics found in the
gendered representation of the female body by male artists as she explores the relationship
between artist, sitter, and viewer. Viewed today, Neel’s work may be seen as resistant to a
heteronormative patriarchal depiction of the female body where the male presence exerts a
power over a female sitter through societal norms of viewing. Instead, she focuses on the identity
and gender of the sitter as an individual outside of public performances of gender, through her
compositions, grotesque depictions of the body, and her commitment to capture the psychology
of the sitter. One painting in this collection of female nudes, 'Ethel Ashton' (1930) displays Neel’s style of honest portraiture emblematic of the series and Neel’s desire to accurately depict the essence
of the sitter without sexualizing or objectifying the female form, instead opting to represent an
authenticity of the body. Other works from the collection, like 'Sue Seely, Nude' (1943), 'Margaret
Evans Pregnant' (1978), and 'Self-Portrait' (1980) also expresses Neel’s use of manipulation of
the body to convey identity and honesty in representation and the self-consciousness of the
female form. This work, and her female nude series in general, provides an entry point for a
revisionist reading of relational power dynamics that come from the pleasure and power derived
from looking and places her work within a Postmodern Foucauldian and feminist theory
regarding the representation of the nude female body. This thesis will examine Alice Neel’s
female nudes in the context of the theories and histories relating to gender and identity, it will
argue that the portraits, through composition and depictions of the body and mind, offer
examples of the way in which this series problematizes the 'male gaze' in nude portraits and
how the hierarchical relationship between the 'looker' and the 'looked at.'”
Abstract:
Keywords: Alice Neel, feminism, portraiture, American modernism, nude, male gaze, female
identity, biopower
identity, biopower
Publisher:
Savannah, Georgia : Savannah College of Art and Design
Date:
2019-05
Format:
PDF : 79 pages, color illustrations