American painter Alice Neel (1900--1984) was known for her Expressionist portraits of both famous and ordinary people. Her notoriety grew later in her career with major showings and a larger following as her style came into vogue and feminists embraced her perspective.

Attended Art School

Neel was born in Merion Square, Pennsylvania, on January 28, 1900, the fourth of five children of George Washington, a department head for the Pennsylvania railway, and Alice Concross Hartley Neel. She grew up in Colwyn, Pennsylvania, a small town where she did not fit in. Though her family was middle class, they were from old, established American stock.

From an early age, Neel wanted to be a painter. To please her traditional parents, she was trained as a secretary and worked in clerical positions as a teenager. She found those jobs very stifling. To break out, Neel began taking art classes at night without...