The painter Joan Brown and sculptor Manuel Neri, both among the second generation of artists associated with the Bay Area Figurative movement, met in 1957 in a painting class taught by Elmer Bischoff at the California School of Fine Arts (later the San Francisco Art Institute).



Seated Girl II (Bather) exemplifies the rich artistic exchanges shared by Brown and Neri throughout the early 1960s while married and sharing a studio, when they were both exploring the expressive possibilities of the human figure. Brown likely sat for Seated Girl II, which Neri sculpted in his signature material of roughly-textured plaster. Brown then painted the face of the sculpture, while Neri painted the body, both utilizing the bold colors and brushstrokes associated with Abstract Expressionist painters.