© The Estate of Alice Neel
On view
Orientation Gallery
Susan & John Diekman Gallery
Susan & John Diekman Gallery
William Seitz,
1963
Alice Neel, 1900–1984; born Merion Square, PA; died New York, NY; active New York
y1977-8
Neel created psychologically charged portraits of friends, family, and associates in the art world. Her portraits of husband-and-wife William and Irma Seitz represent figures who mark two formative moments for contemporary art at Princeton University. The first came in 1955, when William received the University’s first PhD in modern art for his dissertation on Abstract Expressionism. With a teaching position at Princeton followed by a curatorial position at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Seitz was inducted into the art world coterie that Neel frequently painted. The second moment occurred in 1974 when, upon William’s death, Irma, along with many artists and collectors—including Neel’s children—donated artworks to the Princeton University Art Museum in memory of her husband, gifts that helped to catalyze the Museum’s collection of contemporary art.
Information
Title
William Seitz
Dates
1963
Maker
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
106.5 × 71 cm (41 15/16 × 27 15/16 in.)
frame: 108.9 × 73.3 × 3.8 cm (42 7/8 × 28 7/8 × 1 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. Hartley Neel in memory of William C. Seitz, Graduate School Class of 1955
Object Number
y1977-8
Signatures
Signed in oil, lower left: Neel
Inscription
Dated in black, verso upper right: 1963.
Culture
Type
Subject
Alice Neel, New York, New York. Dr Hartley Neel, Stowe, Vermont, and Richard Neel Esq, New York, New York, gift; to Princeton University Art Museum, 1977.
