Neel's famous naked self - portrait (1980) depicts the artist in old age, perched on a blue and white striped sofa surrounded by
blocks of vital color —
green, yellow, blue — calm and fearless in herself, staring at the viewer through slightly skewed glasses (her only attire), mouth firmly downturned and cheeks ruddy above the deliquescence of her aged body, a sinking galleon of
pale flesh.