Manuel Neri facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Manuel Neri
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Sculptor Manuel Neri in his Carrara, Italy studio, 1983; photo by Sally Larsen
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Manuel John Neri Jr.
April 12, 1930 Sanger, California, U.S.
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| Died | October 18, 2021 (aged 91) Sacramento, California, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Education | California College of Arts and Crafts (1951–1952; 1955-1956), California School of Fine Arts (1956-1958) |
| Known for | Sculpture, also drawing, painting and printmaking |
| Movement | Bay Area Figurative Movement, Funk art |
| Awards | Guggenheim Foundation - Fellowship (1979) National Endowment for the Arts - Individual Artist Grant (1980) American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters – Award in Art (1982) San Francisco Arts Commission – Outstanding Achievement in Sculpture (1985) San Francisco Art Institute – Honorary Doctorate (1990) California College of Arts and Crafts – Honorary Doctorate (1992) Corcoran School of Art – Honorary Doctorate (1995) Orange County Museum of Art - Distinguished Artist Award (1999) International Sculpture Center - Lifetime Achievement Award in Contemporary Sculpture (2006) San Francisco Museum of Modern Art - Bay Area Treasure (2008) |
Manuel John Neri Jr. (April 12, 1930 – October 18, 2021) was an American sculptor. He was famous for his life-size sculptures of people. He used materials like plaster, bronze, and marble. Neri's art showed how people feel inside through their body language and movements.
From 1965, his main art studio was in Benicia, California. Later, in 1981, he bought another studio in Carrara, Italy. This Italian studio was special for working with marble. For over 40 years, starting in the early 1970s, Neri often worked with the same model, Mary Julia Klimenko. He created many drawings and sculptures that mixed modern ideas with classic sculpture styles.
Contents
Manuel Neri's Life Story
Manuel John Neri Jr. was born on April 12, 1930. His birthplace was Sanger, California. His parents came from Jalisco, Mexico. They moved to the U.S. because of political problems after the Mexican Revolution.
Early Education and Art Journey
In 1950, Manuel Neri started college at San Francisco City College. He first planned to study electrical engineering. However, a class in ceramics changed his path. His teacher, Peter Voulkos, inspired him to study art instead.
He then went to the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. He also studied at the California School of Fine Arts. This school is now known as the San Francisco Art Institute. Neri learned from famous artists like Richard Diebenkorn and Elmer Bischoff. During this time, he began making life-sized sculptures of people. He used plaster and other materials. He often painted the surfaces of his sculptures. This helped to show off their shapes and movements.
Joining the Art Scene
In the late 1950s, Neri was part of an artist group. They ran a gallery called Six Gallery in San Francisco. Other artists like Joan Brown and Bruce Conner were also members. In October 1955, Neri helped organize a special event. It was called "6 Poets at 6 Gallery." This event was important for the Beat era of writers. At this event, Allen Ginsberg read his famous poem, Howl, for the first time in public.
In 1959, Neri was also a founding member of Bruce Conner's group, the Rat Bastard Protective Association. In the 1960s, he became known for his connection to the Bay Area Figurative Movement. This movement focused on showing human figures in art. Manuel Neri was married to artist Joan Brown from 1962 to 1966. They had worked together on art projects for several years before they married.
Teaching Career
Neri taught sculpture and ceramics at the California School of Fine Arts. He taught there from 1959 to 1965. He also taught art classes at UC Berkeley in 1963 and 1964. From 1965 to 1990, he was a faculty member in the art department at the University of California, Davis.
Awards and Recognition
Manuel Neri received many awards for his art. In 2006, he got the Lifetime Achievement Award in Contemporary Sculpture. This award was from the International Sculpture Center. In 2008, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art gave him the Bay Area Treasure Award.
Other important awards include:
- A fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation (1979).
- An Individual Artist Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (1980).
- An award in art from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1982).
- An award for Outstanding Achievement in Sculpture from the San Francisco Arts Commission (1985).
- The Distinguished Artist Award from the Orange County Museum of Art (1999).
He also received honorary doctorates from several art schools. These include the San Francisco Art Institute (1990), California College of Arts and Crafts (1992), and The Corcoran School of Art (1995).
Manuel Neri's Artworks
Neri made sculptures of people using different materials. He worked with plaster, marble, bronze, and clay. He often sanded, chipped, or painted the surfaces of his sculptures. This helped to highlight their movements and shapes. From the late 1970s, he spent a lot of time working with marble. He created many figures, torsos (upper bodies), and heads at his studio in Carrara, Italy.
Drawings and Books
Manuel Neri was also known for his drawings. He also worked on special books made by artists. Some of these books were collaborations with poet Mary Julia Klimenko. He also created unique books that combined his original drawings with poems. These poems were by famous writers like Pablo Neruda and Federico García Lorca.
Public Art and Exhibitions
Neri received many requests to create sculptures for public places. Some of his important public art commissions include:
- The Bateson Building in Sacramento, California (1980-1982).
- The U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Oregon (1987).
- Laumeier Sculpture Park in Sunset Hills, Missouri (1994).
- Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa (2003).
- St. Anne's Church in Seattle, Washington (2003).
His artwork is shown in several galleries. These include Hackett Mill Gallery in San Francisco and Yares Art in New York City.
Selected Collections
Manuel Neri's artworks are held in many museums around the world. Some of these include:
- Addison Gallery/Phillips Academy
- Anderson Collection at Stanford University
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University
- Cincinnati Art Museum
- Clarinda Carnegie Art Museum, Clarinda, Iowa
- Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
- Denver Art Museum
- Des Moines Art Center
- DiRosa, Napa, California
- El Museo Mexicano, San Francisco
- El Paso Museum of Art, Texas
- Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
- Frederik Meijers Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Fresno Art Museum
- Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey
- Grove Isle Sculpture Garden, Coconut Grove, FL
- Harvard Art Museums
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
- Honolulu Museum of Art
- Indianapolis Museum of Art
- Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO
- Laumeier Sculpture Park, Sunset Hills, Mo.
- Manetti Shrem Museum, University of California, Davis
- Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Tennessee
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC
- Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
- Nevada Museum of Art, Reno
- Oakland Museum of California
- Palm Springs Art Museum, California
- The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
- Phoenix Art Museum
- Portland Art Museum, Oregon
- Racine Art Museum
- San Antonio Museum of Art
- San Diego Museum of Art
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- San Jose Museum of Art, California
- Seattle Art Museum
- Tampa Museum of Art
- Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
- University of New Mexico Fine Arts Center, Albuquerque
- University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames
- Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
- Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut
Personal Life
Manuel Neri was married a few times. He was the second husband of the painter Joan Brown. They were married from 1962 to 1966. However, they had been working together on art for several years before that. Manuel Neri had seven children: Raoul, Laticia, Noel (his son with Joan Brown), Max, Ruby, Julia, and Gus. He passed away on October 18, 2021, in Sacramento, California. He was 91 years old.
See also
- Ventana al Pacifico (1989), Portland, Oregon
