Harold and Nina Krieger 1967

Editor: So, here we have Alice Neel’s 1967 oil on canvas, "Harold and Nina Krieger." There's something really unsettling about the figures’ gazes, and the palette is…unusual. What do you make of it? Curator: Unsettling is a great word! For me, Neel always offers this… raw honesty. She sees through the posed smiles to the subtle tensions humming beneath the surface. That directness can be confronting. Look at how the girl leans away, almost recoiling, while the man practically stares out of the canvas, a complicated mix of pride and maybe something a little… desperate? What do you think about the use of colour in this piece? Does it speak to that unsettled feeling for you? Editor: Definitely! That teal is so unexpectedly vibrant against the more muted tones elsewhere. And the lavender tie – it clashes! Curator: It clashes, yes, but isn't that real life? It’s rarely perfectly harmonized. Neel wasn’t trying to create pretty pictures; she was after something deeper. Think of the cultural context – the late 60s, a time of great upheaval and questioning of societal norms. Do you see that reflected here in the figures or the colours? Editor: I do now, with the unease and that feeling that something's slightly off. It’s a far cry from polished, idealized portraits. More…vulnerable, somehow. Curator: Exactly! I think this portrait invites us to confront the complexities of human relationships and to consider what lies beneath the surface of our own carefully constructed appearances. Makes you wonder what they were really like, doesn’t it? Editor: It really does. I’ll never look at a portrait the same way again. Curator: Isn’t art grand?