Curatorial notes
Alice Neel painted this still life in 1969, using oil on canvas. Neel is best known for her portraits, but this work demonstrates her equal facility with the still life genre. Note the thick application of the paint, particularly in the depiction of the onions scattered on the table. This emphasis on materiality is typical of Neel’s process. She often worked quickly, allowing the gestural quality of her brushstrokes to remain visible, an aesthetic that can be tied to the broader trajectory of expressionism, with its attention to subjective emotion. In contrast to traditional still life, which often depicted idealized or luxurious objects, here Neel focuses on the everyday: a humble brown pot, some discarded onion skins. This focus on the quotidian underscores the way that Neel's material choices are tied to wider social issues of labor, politics, and consumption. Ultimately, by embracing the ordinary and imbuing it with artistic significance, Neel challenges conventional boundaries between fine art and craft.
