Last Sickness

Currently not on view

Last Sickness

1953

Alice Neel (American, 1900–1984)

Last Sickness is one of only four portraits that Alice Neel painted of her mother, Alice Concross Hartley Neel. Mrs. Neel lived most of her life in Colwyn, Pennsylvania, where Alice was born and raised. This painting was made a few months before her death, while she was staying at her daughter's home in New York. Although the sitter is too worn out to try to look cheerful, the artist deftly captures the intelligent sparkle in her mother's eyes and her skeptical curiosity in the face of this peculiar encounter between mother and daughter.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Last Sickness

Date:

1953

Artist:

Alice Neel (American, 1900–1984)

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

30 × 22 inches (76.2 × 55.9 cm) Framed: 31 7/8 × 23 3/4 × 2 1/4 inches (81 × 60.3 × 5.7 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

125th Anniversary Acquisition. Gift of Hartley S. Neel and Richard Neel, 2003

Accession Number:

2003-148-1

Geography:

Made in United States, North and Central America

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Currently not on view