George Segal: Themes and Variations - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3777442739 ISBN 13: 9783777442730

Publisher: Hirmer, 2024

Synopsis

George Segal’s ghostly figures are immediately recognizable, even by those who don’t know the artist’s name. Some are installed in public spaces, as if sitting on a park bench. This book explores his revolutionary technique of casting from live models, as well as his work across a variety of media, presenting him as a restless innovator.

George Segal’s sculptures are unmistakable and inimitable. Among the most compelling artists in twentieth century art, Segal combined a reverence for tradition with a desire to speak in a contemporary idiom. His unique technique of casting live models using plaster and gauze and combining these ghostly white figures with objects of everyday use was revolutionary, catapulting him to fame in 1962. Including over 75 illustrations, the book and texts present Segal as a radical experimenter, a traditionalist, and a restless innovator who worked in paint, photography, printmaking, charcoal, and pastel.

About this title

About the Author

Donna Gustafson, PhD, is Chief Curator and Curator for Art of the Americas at the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University. She has published broadly on modern and contemporary American art. Her most recent project was a collaboration with archivist Lisbet Tellefsen on an exhibition that mixed contemporary art with archival materials to explore the visual iconicity and continuing importance of Angela Davis.

From the Back Cover

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of artist George Segal’s birth in 1924 through his expansive and varied works.

George Segal is one of the most popular and important American artists of the twentieth century. His ghostly figures are immediately recognizable, even by those who don’t know the artist’s name. His inimitable works are displayed in museums and public areas around the world, and he has been the subject of four major retrospectives. Charles Ray, a preeminent figure in contemporary art and the subject of a recent retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, eloquently describes Segal’s impact on his art and life in an interview with the author. While the artist’s significance as a sculptor has long been acknowledged, his work in painting, pastel, and photography is less well known. George Segal: Themes and Variations examines the artist’s work in all media as a series of variations on themes that he mined throughout his long career.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hirmer
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3777442739
• ISBN 13: 9783777442730
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 120
• Editor: Zimmerli Art Museum, Stief Angela