Alice Neel's time in a mental health institution
Neel rejects the patriarchal teachings of her all-girls school in Philadelphia, The School of Design. And she rejects the artistic styles they were teaching her. Alice Neel paints her female nudes as aware of the male gaze. Neel wanted to “respect and humanize” her models in a way that wasn’t done by many male artists she was taught about. She was a rebel through and through. But she wasn’t always allowed to be so free spirited. Neel had two children with her partner, but the first child they had sadly passed after her birth. They soon had a second daughter, but Neel struggled with suicidal ideation, and her husband ended up taking the child while Neel was left to be institutionalized in 1931. During her stay, she wasn’t allowed to paint, likely because it was seen as a man’s job. But she was allowed to sew, a more befitting and feminine hobby, in their eyes. Neel hated sewing. She hated being restricted and she hated being controlled. When she was released, many suicide attempts later, she continued making art. She was finally free. She continued to make a name for herself, painting a wide breadth of people, and being a pioneer for equal rights. Her art spoke to people, as if she had captured souls in her brushwork, and is now praised for bringing the nontypical to life. She painted queer couples and people, racial minorities, foreigners, anyone she deemed interesting. One of them, being John Perrault.
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