Andy Warhol 1970

Alice Neel painted this portrait of Andy Warhol sometime during her career, probably in oil on canvas. The way Neel fearlessly lays down these strokes, it's like she's wrestling with the paint, trying to pin down the very essence of Warhol. Look at the way she’s handled the skin tones – that pale green and pink, and the hard black lines under the brown skirt, but then these moments of gentle transparency. I feel like she’s seeing right through him, getting under his skin, literally and metaphorically. There's something so raw and honest about it, like she's not afraid to show all the cracks and vulnerabilities. It reminds me a bit of Lucian Freud, this unflinching gaze, but with a warmth that's uniquely Neel's. You can see that they're both artists engaged in a conversation across time. Ultimately, this painting is a reminder that art is about more than just pretty pictures; it's about digging deep and finding truth in the messiness of life.