Alice Neel is one of the most important artists of the 20th century. For more than six decades, she painted the people who were part of the world around her — family members, neighbours, workers, immigrants, children, artists, writers and activists. Neel referred to these portraits as "paintings of people’" images that preserve the uniqueness of her subjects whilst also revealing the social, political and cultural transformations of her time. The exhibition is organised into thematic sections devoted to family and emotional relationships, motherhood, childhood, ageing, and the social and political dimensions of her painting.