"The archaic Greek walking man's spine is very erect and he has one foot forward and his arms are straight down and he's as much Greek as he is Egyptian as he is Greek. It goes on and on through Giacometti."--George Segal
In the late 1950s American artist George Segal began experimenting with plaster casts taken from life. In 1976 he made his first bronze sculpture, and since then has cast a number of his plaster sculptures in bronze. Segal takes his subjects--sometimes a single figure, such as Walking Man, or a group of figures--from everyday life. He places his figures in common settings and involves them in ordinary activities. The plaster casts are formed directly on real-life models, translating every physical detail of posture and facial expression into the final work. The rather thoughtful and melancholy attitude of this walking man is communicated by his slightly hunched shoulders, his weary expression, and the manner in which he shoves his hands into the pockets of his overcoat. This solitary figure captures an overwhelming sense of the isolation one can encounter in contemporary society.
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