George Segal

George Segal (1924-2000), American sculptor, known for his life-size white plaster casts of human figures. Born in New York City, Segal worked first, in the 1950s, as a painter, turning to sculpture after 1960. His plaster casts, taken directly from living people, are placed in mundane or lonely sculptural settings—such as elevators, ticket booths, diners, or buses—furnished with objects and props purchased from junkyards. His white figures are left rough and unfinished, their features vague and indistinct, to create a mood of desolation or mystery. His fondness for including in his scenes trite, everyday objects—such as bathroom fixtures and a shaver in Woman Shaving Her Leg (1963, Mayer Collection, Winnetka, Illinois)—has led some critics to group him with the pop art school, but his work, in its communication of melancholy human feelings, goes beyond the impersonality of pop art.