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GEORGE SEGAL (b. 1924)
Helen Against Wall with Door
painted plaster and wood
38 by 55 by 14 in. 96.5 by 139.7 by 35.6 cm.
Executed in 1987.
Segal began to incorporate solid matte colors into his sculptural works in 1976, inspired by the paintings of Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko. As the artist noted, "I buried Barney's paintings in the sculpture. There's all this history of Newman and Rothko using color... big, uninflected areas of color [that] are extensions of a psychological state of mind. So I made a series of sculptures using color like that" (Sam Hunter, George Segal, New York, 1989, p. 11).
The psychological content of Helen Against Wall with Door is derived in part from the contrast of the black-clad plaster figure with her ghostly pale head hovering before the blackened background. This solid wall creates a separate space for the figure, while simultaneously suggesting a three-dimensional environment which envelopes the viewer within the artist's sphere. However, the isolated figure glances away and down from us, passing us by without any engagement or recognition. PROVENANCE
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York
Private collector, New York
LITERATURE
Sam Hunter, George Segal, New York, 1989, plate no. 122, illustrated in color