“I have this overweening interest in humanity,” Alice Neel said. “Even if I’m not working, I’m still analyzing people.” Born in 1900 in Philadelphia, Neel was discouraged by her mother from pursuing art because she was a girl. Undeterred, she trained at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women. By 1930, she was living in New York’s Greenwich Village and creating portraits of the social outcasts around her, from left-wing radicals to artists to unionists. Neel did not shy away from queer communities. She painted expressive portraits of gay people, rebellious theorists, activists, and politicians in bold brushstrokes and vivid colors. Despite capturing important figures of the 20th century, such as the former New York mayor Ed Koch and the poet Allen Ginsberg, Neel was largely unknown when she died, in 1984. She’s now celebrated as a pillar of American art. This new exhibition focuses on her depictions of the queer world. —Jeanne Malle