Barkley Hendricks on Alice Neel's Portrait of Andy Warhol

​Alice grips my heart when I see her work and think about her life. Andy really meant it when he said that she and Louise Nevelson were the best "girl" artists he knew. Here, he offers himself in such a public and vulnerable way, and Alice responds with her most tender portrait. Alice always painted directly on the canvas without sketching beforehand and with heavy outlines which is technically "wrong". Barkley Hendricks is another one of my favorite portrait artists. It's amazing that they knew each other as well.