Harold Neal

Harold Lloyd Neal (December 19, 1924 - May 6, 1996) was an American painter and part of the Black Arts Movement. Neal is especially known for his instrumental role in the history of African American art in Detroit. His work explored themes and topics such as religion, Pan Africanism, and Black Nationalism.

Life

Early life Harold Neal was born on December 19, 1924, in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee. He was the eldest child of eight, born to James and Ogie Neal. The Neal family was known to be amongst the more affluent families in the Black community at the time. James Neal’s tobacco and confectioner’s shop on Beale Street attributed to this affluence, as well as Ogie’s own college education. Members of the Neal family suspects illegal gambling may have contributed to the success of James Neal’s store, but no evidence has proven this.

Ogie supported Harold’s artistic interests from a young age, allowing him to explore drawing and illustrating as a hobby. Neal attended Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, where he founded an art club.

After the death of his father in 1941, and only one year of high school, Harold left school to join the service. He later finished his education after serving in the Air Force as a Technical sergeant in Radio Air Communications from 1942-1946. While in the Air Force, Neal earned the reputation of a muralist.

Neal’s interest in the arts continued outside of school at LeMoyne Art Center, part of LeMoyne College, a historically Black university. Neal’s exposure to the arts and Black history at a young age was unique, as this was not part of the curriculum of public schools at the time. This experience largely impacted Neal’s own desire to pursue the idea of federal support for the arts.

In the 1980s, following the election of Ronald Reagan, Neal and many other Detroit artists turned from protest towards celebration of African American heritage and culture. At this point in Neal’s career, he shifted from figural work towards a more abstract style of painting and assemblage. Neal’s work still dealt heavily with themes of the Black experience.

Harold Neal died May 6, 1996.

Work

Early work Sketchbooks from Neal’s time studying at SAC show an abundance of life drawing, including human figures and skeletons, as well as work exploring perspective, shapes, and color. These pages also illuminate an interest in jazz, theater, current events, and Black history.

Later work Neal’s involvement in the Black Arts Movement led to a plethora of works depicting the horrors and realities of life as a Black American in the mid 20th century. Neal’s “Riot Series” was a collection of paintings that depict real and imagined scenes from Black American history. An untitled painting of Tonya Blanding illustrates when the four year old was mistakenly shot and killed in her apartment by National Guard Troops in 1968. Paintings such as these are manifestations of Neal’s pain and anger. The “Riot Series” also touched on subjects like mass-incarceration of Black people, seen in his work “Attica,” from 1972.

Two years before Neal’s death, he began his Zodiac Series — a series of paintings that focused on jazz and music, often referencing Detroit-based musicians.

Style Harold Neal is recognized for his atmospheric quality of painting, achieved by layering paint with fluidity and ease. Neal mastered an ability to use a generally muted palette with splashes of very bright color, giving depth and dimension to his pieces. “Reluctant Flowering” is a painting that depicts the story of a 13-year-old prostitute that Neal met on the street. Neal’s portrait is somber, yet uses pops of color to illustrate her own vitality, even in a state of distress.

Neal also openly rejected the “non objective” style of art that was popular amongst white artists in the 1960s. Instead, Neal’s objective paintings were seen as a reclaiming of the “struggle” of Black Americans at the time. This show also exhibited at the Wayne State Gallery in Detroit.

In July 2024, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) exhibited “Kinship: The legacy of the 7 with Charles McGee.” This exhibition was dedicated to the history and work of Gallery 7, “one of the first art venues in Detroit dedicated to the work of Black artists, founded and run by Charles McGee from 1969 to 1979.” Neal’s work was included in this gallery, and he is noted to be one of the founders of this space. the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum, and has had a number of traveling exhibitions in many notable institutions.

A large amount of Neal’s work is represented by Mongerson Gallery in Chicago.