George Segal

Sidney Janis Gallery, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 1987

This work is in very good and sound condition overall. The bench exhibits abrasions to the left and right sides of the figure. Scattered light accretions are evident in the deeper crevices of the figure, but overall the figure has a very clean and white patina. There are two small areas of fine craquelure located on the back of the figure's neck.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

A revolutionary force in the 1960's, George Segal brought a new dimension to the Pop Art world. Illuminating the poignancy in the quotidian, Segal added a touch of humanism to contemporary artistic preoccupations. Instead of simply celebrating the soup can or the comic book, he explored the poetry in the everyday experience.

In the vein of Edward Hopper, Segal's settings are most often banal, relying on the least fanciful backdrops to nourish his solitary casts. There are those who sit alone at the diner nursing their toast and coffee, those who aimlessly fix their hair by the sink and those who stare off into space at bus stops, bedsides and restaurant booths. Like Alberto Giacometti's spindly bonze silhouettes who march forward without purpose or direction, Segal's life-size plaster casts often seem helpless, hopeless and alone.

Woman with Sunglasses on Bench sits slouched on her black-painted bench, sunglasses pushed back from expressionless eyes, hands folded neatly in her plaster lap. Wrapped in shroud of existential solitude, she stares straight ahead in a meditative-like trance, appearing to be waiting for something or someone. A lover? A bus? Godot? Using the urban landscape, Segal gives us a lady in waiting. Like her stark white plaster peers and Hopperian ancestors, she is waiting for more than just a bus or a train or her food to be served. Her waiting, as Beckett suggested in Waiting for Godot, is a waiting for a meaning in her life. Woman with Sunglasses on Bench is a work stripped bare by its maker, an existential melody in which even though nothing happens, we are glued to our seats.