Alice Neel: an instrumental case study exploring a mother's stylistic elements in artwork in response to her infant child's death

Johnna S. Butler

doi:10.17918/etd-2960

In this instrumental case study this researcher explores the phenomena of child loss anddeath as exemplified in the case of the artist Alice Neel during her early years 1926-1934. In 1927, Neel lost her first child, Santilla, to diphtheria. Eleven months later Neel gavebirth to a second daughter Isabetta. During the time after Isabetta's birth, Neel's marriagedisintegrated with her husband taking their daughter to Cuba and leaving her in the careof his family. In the same year, Neel experienced a nervous breakdown, followed byhospitalization, suicide attempts and recovery. In this study, this researcher investigates 33 works of art by Alice Neel, literature aboutNeel and interviews with Neel. Her artwork is evaluated by two outside ATR raters usingthe Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) in conjunction with a content grid. Inaddition, a timeline of the events in Neel's life is presented along with a table of quotesabout key topics in her life. As shown by the FEATS, Neel's psychological state is strongly reflected in her artwork. During the period after the death of Neel's first child, her artwork showed the lowestvalues in many of the FEATS scales, especially for Color, Color Fit, Energy, Realism andDetails. Low values on these scales indicate a tendency for depression. The analysis ofthe FEATS also showed that Neel had a tendency towards depression through all heryears of motherhood and loss until her breakdown. This tendency was observed by lowervalues of the FEATS scale in Energy, Realism, and Details. After hospitalization andrecovery these FEATS values for her paintings are significantly higher. Based on Neel'scomments about motherhood and literature of Neel's researchers, this researcher willdiscuss the possibility that Neel's depressed state was grief complicated by postpartumdepression and the loss of her first daughter.

Alice Neel: an instrumental case study exploring a mother's stylistic elements in artwork in response to her infant child's death

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