The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 20, 2024
The Red Light
1972
(American, 1924–2000)
Overall: 289.5 x 243.8 x 91.4 cm (114 x 96 x 36 in.)
© Estate of William Schwedler / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
Segal pioneered the unique use of plaster bandages to make his sculpted figures.Description
George Segal began his career as a figurative painter, but in the 1960s his interest turned toward "the theater of the street," and he began to create three-dimensional "environments." Built like stage sets that incorporated real objects as props—the truck in The Red Light was Segal's own—the settings usually evoke an urban environment. Segal felt that "a minute of existence is miraculous and extraordinary." His work freezes those minutes, allowing them to be studied in depth. To achieve this effect in The Red Light, Segal worked with a live model, soaking cloth in a durable white industrial plaster to cast the figure in sections. He then cut the cast into sections, reassembled the pieces, and adjusted the pose. The figure's all-white surface and lack of specific facial features convey a sadly anonymous presence, offering a metaphor for the reality of city life.- “Acquisitions of Modern Art by Museums.” The Burlington Magazine CXVII (May 1975), mentioned p. 328, reproduced p. 334, no. 90.Henning, Edward B. “The Red Light by George Segal.” CMA Bulletin LXIII, vol. 63, no. 5, (May 1976), mentioned p.146-150, reproduced p.147, fig. 1.Hunter, Sam. George Segal. New York: Rizzoli, 1984, pp. 54, 58, reproduced color fig. 50, p. 57.Lym, Glenn Robert. “When Places Include People: Edward Hopper and George Segal.” Places: A Quarterly Journal of Environmental Design, vol. 2, no. 1, (1985), mentioned p.28-29, reproduced p.29, no. 14.Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1974.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 62, no. 3 (March 1975): 62–102. Mentioned: p. 62, 64, 102; Reproduced: p. 86, no. 138 www.jstor.orgHenning, Edward B. “Sky Cathedral-Moon Garden Wall by Louise Nevelson.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 64, no. 7 (September 1977): 242–51. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 243-244 www.jstor.orgThe Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 256 archive.org
- Stories From Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).Life is a Highway: American Car Culture. The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (organizer) (June 15-September 15, 2019).Gallery One 2012. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 2012-March 5, 2017).George Segal: Sculptures. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN (organizer) (October 29, 1978-January 7, 1979); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA (February 18-April 1, 1979); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (May 16-July 8, 1979).Minneapolis, MN, Walker Art Center, 1978-1979: "George Segal: Sculptures," cat. no. 28, repr. p. 82 (Approved: Trustees' Meg 7/25/1977).Materials and Techniques of 20th-Century Artists. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 17, 1976-January 2, 1977).CMA 1976: "Materials and Techniques of 20th Century Artists," cat. #9Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).Year in Review: 1974. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 11-April 6, 1975).CMA 1975: "Year in Review 1974," Bulletin, LXII (March 1975), p. 102, cat. #138, repr. p. 87CMA 1975: "Traditions and Revisions," cat. #116, repr. p. 136CMA 1973: "Contemporary American Artists," cat. #24, repr. p. 17
- {{cite web|title=The Red Light|url=false|author=George Segal|year=1972|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1974.22