Alice Neel. American, Merion Square, Pennsylvania 1900–1984 New York, Linda Nochlin and Daisy, 1973. Oil on canvas, 55 7/8 × 44 in. (141.9 × 111.8 cm), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Seth K. Sweetser Fund
Like the Morgan, with its David Hockney show, The Metropolitan Museum of Art knows that the surest way to pack in crowds – even in a pandemic – is to give them representational images of "contemporary" people in a "contemporary" style. Thus we have "Alice Neel: People Come First" within its hallowed halls (through August 1). When I visited it (on April 8) the line stretched from the elevators nearest Fifth Avenue to Galleries 999, on the west side of the building. Nor will this be the end of Neel's exposure: the show is scheduled for the Guggenheim Bilbao (September 17 to January 23, 2022) AND the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (March 12, 2022 to July 10, 2022. Michelangelo, eat your heart out! Read More