George Segal (1924-2000): Retrospective

On 7 August, 2002, a retrospective exhibition of the modern American artist George Segal (1924-2000) opened in the General Staff rooms. 98 works showed include sculptures, paintings and drawings and represent all stages in the creative development of this major American master.
The exhibition is organized by the State Hermitage Museum together with the George Segal Foundation and the Zimmerli Art Museum of the Rutgers State University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S.A.
During the earlier part of his artistic career, George Segal paid most attention to painting and drawing which made an important contribution to his nascent imagery. In 1956 the master's first one-man exhibition took place at the Hansa Gallery in New York. In the late 50s, Segal started experimenting with sculpture. The artist’s one-man exhibition at the Green Gallery in New York in 1960 showed his sculptures in a real environment. In 1961 Segal for the first time used medical bandage with plaster in sculpture; from 1964, he was wholly preoccupied with this art, experimenting with diverse materials and techniques.
Art critics who started to take notice of Segal in the late 1950s tried at once to determine his place in the system of arts. His abandonment of representation could not help attract attention in the epoch when abstract expressionism reigned supreme. At first he was classified as pop artist, this classification being prompted by his participation in the exhibitions of this movement's founders. But it was the similarity of techniques such as the use of real objects rather than the spirit of art that was common between them. Actually, George Segal held a place of his own in the art of his time.
The State Hermitage Publishing House put out a full-color illustrated catalogue of the exhibition.

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Helen Segal, artist's widow and State Hermitage Director Mikhail Piotrovsky opening the exhibition

Albert Kostenevich, curator of the exhibition

At the exhibition