March 31 – April 16, 1976
Art Gallery, Eugenia Fuller Atwood Library
This exhibition was funded by the National Endowment of the Arts.
Glenside, Pa. – Alice Neel, one of America’s outstanding painters identified with the figurative tradition, will exhibit her paintings at Beaver College, Easton and Church Roads, Glenside from March 31 through April 16 in the Atwood Gallery of Art in the Library. A gallery talk by Miss Neel will be held at 4:30 PM and an opening reception in her honor will be held from 7:00 to 9:30 PM on March 31 in the art gallery. Sponsored by the Forum Committee and Department of Fine Arts at Beaver College and by the National Endowment of the Arts, Washington, D.C., both the talk and the exhibit are open to the public without charge.
Throughout her long and vigorous career, Alice Neel has maintained a fundamental relation to the excitement of seeing and interpreting the world around her in a manner that is fresh, dynamic, and original. Canvases in the show go back to some of her earliest work in the 1920’s, but most are of the last few years. All show her interest in a personal interpretation of the figure and she has been referred to as a “collector of souls on canvas.” This phrase is apt in describing a certain Dostoievsky-like quality that her work has as it penetrates beyond surface appearance to hint at the harsher and more enduring realities.
1976 BEAVER NEWS
“Atwood Gallery features works by Alice Neel” by Paula Oram
“I stuck to my road,” best describes the art of Alice Neel. Her paintings will be on display in the Atwood Gallery from 2 to 5 p.m. daily. The show opened Wednesday, March 31. The opening was preceded by a warmly received public lecture [at] 4:30 that day. The exhibition is supported by a grant from The National Endowment for the Arts, The Forum Committee, and The Department of Fine Arts, Beaver College and will continue through April 16.
Ms. Neel is a figurative artist; she is concerned with painting people. She explained, “Man is the first premise. From a painting of a person you can learn about an entire era.”
Although she is a realist, she allows for creativity. “I invent along the way,” she said. She feels the portrait doesn’t have to be a stodgy realism. Her work is autobiographical and each piece has a story behind it.
A return to figurative work has been relatively recent. This has followed a long reign of Abstract Expressionism in the world of art. however, Ms. Neel said, “I don’t want anything to take complete dominance. All work is legitimate if it’s what you like.”
The painter has experimented in her work. She has used all kinds of media, but is now using paint. She paints people as well as still lifes.
Ms. Neel is a long-time friend of Rhoda Medary, one of the women who runs the Beaver Art Store. They both attended the Philadelphia College of Design for Women (now Moore College of Art).
