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ROBERT NEAL (1916 - 1989)
Untitled (Fisherman’s House at River’s Edge)
.
Oil on linen canvas, circa 1939. 508x660 mm; 20x26 inches. Signed in oil, upper right recto. Signed
in oil, center verso.
Provenance: acquired from family descendants of the artist, Colorado; private collection, Colorado.
This outstanding 1930s painting is a wonderful discovery—the first artwork by this painter and
muralist to come to auction.A native of Atlanta, Robert Neal was a student of HaleWoodruff ’s and
became his studio assistant at Spelman College, working on the Talladega College Amistad murals
in 1939. Neal transferredWoodruff ’s drawings to the canvas, and then installed the canvases to the
walls after Woodruff had fallen ill. Neal’s signature was even recently found on the verso of the
mural canvas
Repatriation of the Freed Captives
, when it was recently restored for the museum
exhibition
Rising Up: HaleWoodruff’s Murals at Talladega College
.