Manuel Neri: Early Work 1953-1978 [Hardcover]

Jack Cowart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 18, 1997

Comprehensive volume on the leading sculptor of influential Bay Area figurative movement.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Manuel Neri is a key figure in the historic and influential Bay Area figurative art movement. After working as a painter and ceramicist, Neri turned to plaster sculpture based on Rodin's fragmented torsos inspired by unearthed Greek and Roman sculpture. Neri has taken this tradition one step further, painting vivid brush strokes on works that combine lovingly modeled areas with passages of gouging and slashing. Manuel Neri: Early Work 1953-1978 is a magnificent, comprehensive collection with essays devoted to his paintings, drawings, and sculpture. The 391 color plates combine with 185 b/w illustrations to make this a benchmark publication on the work and artistic genius of Manuel Neri. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Hardcover: 424 pages
• Publisher: Hudson Hills Press; 1st edition (February 18, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0886750466
• ISBN-13: 978-0886750466
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,674,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Neri is a National Treasure, June 23, 2000

By 

Renee Thorpe (Karangasem, Bali) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Manuel Neri: Early Work 1953-1978 (Hardcover)

This very beautiful book is a good introduction to Manuel Neri's sculptures, but it is also cherished by those who have followed his career for years.

The book is filled with fantastic photographs! The elegant photographs of his work (going back to the 50's) are magnificent. It is an art in itself to photograph sculpture, and I am sorry to say that my search for the photographer's name ended in frustration. He or she deserves a lot of credit.

There are also wonderful snapshots from Neri's life, with many nice photos of the artist with second wife Joan Brown (see Tsujimoto, Karen: The Art of Joan Brown). It's a real slice of an exciting era in west coast art: the 50's, 60's and 70's.

What Neri has done for figurative art covers a greater scope than that of the San Francisco Bay Area, yet he is firmly part of the Bay Area figurative tradition. All the contributors speak of the atmosphere into which Neri arrived as an art student, but particularly Beardsly places him in a unique, thriving artists' society. He does this by writing about how Neri's relationships with Joan Brown and Mark DeSuvero impacted his work; their images live and breathe with profundity in certain of Neri's sculptures (shown with the text).

The book is divided in two: the artist's work and the artist's life; both are compelling enough, it would have been unwise to mix them. The book is very well organized.

Neri's work may at first appear too rough to the eye that only knows Rodin and Donatello, but a second look will discover the grace and energy the artist creates in every work. It is a great book for anyone interested in figurative art. Neri's studies and drawings are quite beautiful by themselves... A great book for any artist who enjoys capturing the figure, either the one who just likes to dabble in life drawing or the serious and technically-minded draftsman. Anyone at all can find in Neri's work a new way to look at line and the figure. Also great for anyone who wants to get to know Bay Area art.