Manuel Neri (1930–2021) was a sculptor, painter and educator whose expressive explorations of the human figure made him a major force in Northern California art. The only sculptor closely associated with the second generation of the Bay Area Figurative Movement, Neri worked primarily with life-size figures in plaster, bronze and marble. He modeled, carved and painted their surfaces, emphasizing the physical process of making and the emotional presence of the body. Neri was part of San Francisco’s influential Six Gallery and the Rat Bastard Protective Association before joining the UC Davis faculty in 1965. During 25 years at Davis, he influenced generations of artists. Neri exhibited internationally, and his work entered major collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art and Whitney Museum. Later exhibitions included Manuel Neri: Assertion of the Figure at Stanford’s Anderson Collection (2017–18) and The Human Figure in Plaster and on Paper at the Yale University Art Gallery (2018). The Manetti Shrem Museum holds more than 150 works by Neri.