Girl on a Chair

George Segal was an innovator in sculpture known for his installations of white plaster figures with ghostly appearances. He depicted the dignity in everyday life, showing people poised at a bus stop, paused before a traffic intersection, or conversing on a park bench. Segal's work also took on political themes such as the Holocaust and gay pride. At the time this sculpture was created, the artist discussed its art historical references: "The chair is like a ladder with steps, the box is like a house, the girl is like a Greek caryatid holding up the roof . . . I've always liked the hardness and softness combined, this wedding of organic and geometric."