Otto Neals
Otto Neals (born December 11, 1931) is an American painter and sculptor. Throughout his career, Neals worked as an illustrator at the Brooklyn Post Office while pursuing independent art projects in his spare time. He currently resides in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
Otto Neals
Robert Marvin · CC BY 3.0
- Name
- Otto Neals
- Born
- 11 December 1931
- Birthplace
- South Carolina, U.S.
- Occupation
- painter and sculptor
- Nationality
- United States
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wikidata · Q22279380 · wikipedia · Otto Neals
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Otto Neals • Born — 11 December 1931 • Birthplace — South Carolina, U.S. • Occupation — painter and sculptor
Early life and education
Early life and education
Born in South Carolina, Neals moved to New York at the age of four and displayed a passion for painting from a young age. Neals studied commercial art at George Westinghouse Vocational High School, and briefly attended the Brooklyn Museum Art School. Neals studied under notable artists such as Isaac Soyer, Krishna Reddy, Mohammed Khalil, Roberto DeLomanica, and Vivian Schuyler Key.
Career
Career
Neals has been a member of the Weusi Artist Collective since the 1960s. Neals has been commissioned to execute several public works, including ten bronze plaques for the Harlem Walk of Fame, a 20-foot mural in Kings County Hospital, a bronze of Percy Sutton at the City University of New York, and a bronze monument inspired by the children's book Peter's Chair as centerpiece of an Imagination Playground in Prospect Park. His work is exhibited in the Smithsonian Institution, Howard University, and the Columbia Museum of Art. He features in the private collections of John Lewis, Harry Belafonte, and Oprah Winfrey, and was the subject of an exhibition in the gallery inside the Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch at Grand Army Plaza. In June 2015, the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation held a 50-year retrospective of his sculptures. Neals is a founding artist of the Fulton Art Fair, the oldest Black visual arts event in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Neals has been the recipient of the New York City Art Commission's Award for Excellence in Design.
Places
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- New York City
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Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Otto Neals, revision 1356143093 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Weusi Artist Collective, NYC Artists.
- 2.Richardson, Clem. Brooklyn artist Otto Neals, 80, is master of many mediums. Daily News. February 25, 2011.
- 3.Fractenberg, Ben. Brooklyn Artist Otto Neals Gets Huge 5-Gallery Retrospective. DNAinfo New York. November 11, 2014.
- 4.Otto Neals - SC African American. SC African American.
- 5.Weusi Artist Collective, NYC Artists.
- 6.Martin, Douglas. Where Imaginations Run Wild. The New York Times. 1997-06-21. 0362-4331.
- 7.Masters Among Us Otto Neals. blackartinamerica.com.
- 8."Otto Neals: An Artistic Legacy" 2015 – CUNY Newswire – CUNY. www.cuny.edu.
- 9.Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation presents Otto Neals sculpture retrospective Brooklyn Daily Eagle. www.brooklyneagle.com. 3 June 2015.
- 10.Bed-Stuy's Fulton Art Fair celebrates the artists of the African diaspora Brooklyn Daily Eagle. www.brooklyneagle.com. 20 June 2014.
- 11.The Otto Neals Retrospective.
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Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Illustration
5,224 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Otto BacheIllustrator
- Otto BöhlerIllustrator
- Otto Henry BacherIllustrator
- Otto MuellerIllustrator
- Otto NückelIllustrator
- Otto SindingIllustrator
- Otto SpeckterIllustrator
- Otto UbbelohdeIllustrator
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