Image: Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown
The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown has turned its attention to Alice Neel’s 'Olivia' (1980), a silkscreen print the museum identifies as a museum purchase, in a newsletter feature titled ‘Through the Eyes of Another’. The museum uses the work to frame a contrast between Alice Neel’s human-centered portraiture and the more stylized image of women associated with Alphonse Mucha, whose exhibition ‘Alphonse Mucha: Master of Art Nouveau’ has recently been a major focus at the institution.
In the museum’s description, 'Olivia' shows Neel’s granddaughter in a relaxed pose, meeting the viewer directly. The image is presented as an example of Neel’s commitment to portraiture that emphasizes individuality, psychological depth and emotional honesty rather than idealization. The museum describes the print’s simplified palette and sketch-like handling as part of its modern feeling, and says the work embodies Neel’s approach to capturing people as they are rather than as polished symbols.
The feature also places Neel within a broader art-historical context. Born in rural Pennsylvania in 1900, Neel built her career while abstract art dominated the American art world, yet she remained devoted to portraiture throughout her life. The museum quotes her saying, “I am a humanist. That’s the way I see the world and that is what I paint.” According to the museum, Neel painted family members, friends, artists, neighbors and strangers, and her work has since earned recognition as that of one of the twentieth century’s great portrait artists.
The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts notes that it previously hosted a retrospective of Neel’s work in 1977. In the current newsletter, 'Olivia' is presented as a lens through which to consider how artists across generations have pictured women and how women have been seen, in relation to the earlier Mucha material. The museum’s framing is careful to position the Neel work as a point of comparison, rather than a separate exhibition announcement.
The email places the work within the museum’s ‘Founding Artists, Founding Movements: 250 Years of Art in the United States’ exhibition in the Smith Gallery. The newsletter says 'Olivia' is on view there, where it is shown alongside other material from the museum’s collection and programming connected to the broader run of exhibitions and events.
The same communication also lists several upcoming museum programs. A juried plein air exhibition tied to the Plein Air Fest in Hagerstown City Park will accept eligible works created during the festival on August 8, with registration for the juried competition set at $20 and submissions due by August 10. Selected works are scheduled to be displayed in the museum’s Community Art Cases from August 25 through September 22, 2026.
Other scheduled events include ‘Art Social Hour: Looking at Lalique’ on August 12, ‘Let’s Talk Art: Art in Costume’ on August 20, and ‘Garden Night: Stable Shakers & Sons of Pitches’, for which the museum is offering pre-ordered picnic boxes through August 18 ahead of the August 21 evening event.
