George Segal
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"Segal was the most influential
American figurative sculptor of the
20th Century, and certainly one of
the most important of the 20th
Century, period. He had a very
sophisticated and deep
understanding of people and
expressed that through his
sculpture.”
-David Janis, Segal’s agent
American Sculptor
 Began as figurative painter in late 1950s
 Turned to sculpture to describe human figures
in real space and relate them to their
surroundings
 Influenced by the psychology in Edward
Hopper’s paintings and his attention to the
attitude and gesture of his figures in urban and
rural settings
Pop Art
 Early work considered
in Pop Art
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 References to
individual’s place in
mass culture
 Examined relationship
between fine art and
popular art forms
The Curtain, 1974
Medium
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 Began casting
plaster of Paris
moulds from living
models
 Placed figures in an
environment that he
constructed to lock
them in time
Toll Booth with Collector, 1979
Process
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 Select situation
 Select a person and
pose
 Cast figure, sometimes
in clothing
 Soaked bandages in
plaster and applied and
shaped them to the
body
First works
Man Sitting at a Table (1961)
Used only outside unpainted surface of
cast
Abstract, impressionistic, disembodied
and anonymous quality//depersonalized
social settings
Later works
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The Corridor
 Parking Garage (1968):
Poured industrial
plaster inside cast to
capture details of
expression and physical
form: more life-like
 The Corridor (1976):
cast and painted in vivid
colors as metaphors for
“rosy disposition” “blue
funk” and “a black
mood”
New approaches
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Picasso’s Chair
 Fragments and groups
of figures in social
settings
 Sound and lighting
effects
 Cast still-life scenes
from works by major
modern artists:
Picasso’s Chair (1973)
Public monuments
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The Holocaust
 Late 1970s, series that
made political and
ideological statements
 Gay Liberation,
Steelmakers,
Appalachian Farm
Couple, In Memory of
May 4, 1970, Kent
State: Abraham and
Isaac
 The Holocaust (1982):
most controversial work
Mini Lesson Plan: Grades 6-12
Segal’s project on a smaller scale…
 1. Choose either your hand or your face to cast in plaster
using plaster strips.
 2. Cut the strips into three long smaller strips.
 3. Apply Vaseline thoroughly to all skin that will be covered
by the strips.
 4. Wet strips and wrap them, one by one, around hand or face
until the skin is completely covered
 5. Let strips heat up and dry.
 6. Cut slits in parts of hand or body part that get smaller (eg.
wrist)
 7. Carefully remove the hardened plaster surface
 8. Repair slit with strips or pure wet plaster
 9. Can paint sculpture when it dries
Works Cited
 Kristine Stiles. “Segal, George.” Grove Art
Online. Oxford Art Online. 25 Nov. 2008
Images
<http://www.oxfordartonline.com.proxy.lib.muo
hio.edu/subscriber/article/grove/art/T077360>
Images:
 www.metmuseum.rog/…/
2000/images/2001.57.L.jpg
 http://www.artres.com