# Manuel Neri artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/manuel-neri/
Profile generated: 2026-06-01T11:31:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: American
- Movements: Modernist sculpture, Figurative art
- Common media: Plaster, Bronze, Marble, Drawing, Painting

## About Manuel Neri

Manuel Neri (1930–2021) was an American sculptor and painter celebrated for his life-size figurative sculptures in plaster, bronze, and marble. Born in California, Neri maintained a studio in Benicia, California, from 1965 and established a second studio in Carrara, Italy, in 1981 dedicated to marble carving. Over four decades, beginning in the early 1970s, he worked primarily with the same model, Mary Julia Klimenko, producing drawings and sculptures that merge contemporary emotional expression with Modernist sculptural form. His figures convey psychological depth through gesture, body language, and a distinctive surface treatment that ranges from rough-hewn plaster to polished marble. Neri's work is held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York and is documented by major art-history institutions including the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names and the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History.

## Common works and media

Neri's most frequently encountered works include life-size plaster figurative sculptures, bronze casts of the female figure, marble carvings produced in his Carrara studio, and figurative drawings in charcoal and pastel. His signature subject is the standing or seated female nude, often referencing his long-time model Mary Julia Klimenko. Painted plaster surfaces with visible tool marks and polychrome accents are characteristic of his plaster originals. Bronze editions, marble carvings, and related drawings may all appear independently at auction.

## Market and appraisal context

Manuel Neri's sculptures appear in Post-War and Contemporary art auctions, with works spanning plaster maquettes, life-size bronzes, carved marble figures, and drawings on paper. Medium and scale are primary value drivers: full-size figurative bronzes and marbles from his Carrara period tend to attract the strongest collector interest. Provenance linked to his Benicia or Carrara studios, documented exhibition history, and museum-held comparables all support attribution confidence. Collectors should verify medium, dimensions, date of execution, and condition, and should compare lots against realized prices in major auction databases, as specific sale records were not available in the current research sources.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from museum, library-authority, and scholarly sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Manuel Neri, this page draws on Getty ULAN, VIAF, Wikidata, the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, and published biographical references. Auction performance data should be supplemented from dedicated auction databases for valuation purposes.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6752769
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Neri
- Getty Research Institute: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500059909
- VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/116153803/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n81025035
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/72559
- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/96007