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Oct 30, 2023
Media: oil on canvas board-5" x 7" times four
Size: 7x5 in
Today's saint, "Saint Alice Neel" is the Matron Saint of Persistence, Portraits, Mental Health and Inclusion. Alice was a 20th century painter who persisted in her painting of penetrating psychological portraits of her fellow New Yorkers, often those marginalized by society, from her Black and Puerto Rican neighbors in Harlem to civil rights activists, poets, artists and queer performers. Even when everyone around her had declared portraiture dead, she persisted in her painting. When her first daughter died, and her second daughter was stolen by her husband. She persisted and painted in the asylum when she went mad with grief (who wouldn't???) after her losses. She persisted when she had chosen bad male companions (no offense guys, but bad boyfriends have always been 'thick on the ground'!) who burned or slashed her paintings. She persisted when raising two sons on government assistance, always hoping that her work would be recognized and rewarded. Alas, it did not happen until very late in life...but she had persisted in her vision and one of her final portraits done in her 80s, was a nude self-portrait...she declared that she had put it off til then because she would prefer being called insane, rather than vain! I think saints don't mind 'insanity', but mainly eschew vanity. Today's saint, "Saint Alice Neel" is the Matron Saint of Persistence, Portraits, Mental Health and Inclusion. Alice was a 20th century painter who persisted in her painting of penetrating psychological portraits of her fellow New Yorkers, often those marginalized by society, from her Black and Puerto Rican neighbors in Harlem to civil rights activists, poets, artists and queer performers. Even when everyone around her had declared portraiture dead, she persisted in her painting. When her first daughter died, and her second daughter was stolen by her husband. She persisted and painted in the asylum when she went mad with grief (who wouldn't???) after her losses. She persisted when she had chosen bad male companions (no offense guys, but bad boyfriends have always been 'thick on the ground'!) who burned or slashed her paintings. She persisted when raising two sons on government assistance, always hoping that her work would be recognized and rewarded. Alas, it did not happen until very late in life...but she had persisted in her vision and one of her final portraits done in her 80s, was a nude self-portrait...she declared that she had put it off til then because she would prefer being called insane, rather than vain! I think saints don't mind 'insanity', but mainly eschew vanity. |
Available Paintings by Pamela Hoffmeister
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