SUSAN FORREST CASTLE

RICHARD SEGALMAN | BLACK AND WHITE: MUSES, MAGIC AND MONOTYPES

For many, the name Richard Segalman conjures up a vision of light-infused paintings of women gathered on a beach, gazing out the window of a New York City brownstone, or dressed in costumes from another era. But just as Edgar Degas, approaching his 60th year, surprised gallery goers with an exhibition not of ballerinas or race horses, but of highly atmospheric monotype landscapes, so too does Segalman surprise us with this exceptional collection of monotypes he began to produce in 1993, at nearly 60. “I reached a sort of a plateau and needed a new direction,” says the artist. “I came across a monotype…took a course…made one and I was hooked.”

The significance of Segalman’s shift into this medium is most powerfully conveyed through his arresting black-and-white prints that range from anonymous crowds on Coney Island beaches or New York City streets to a solitary figure in private contemplation. This monochromatic focus makes perfect sense: Segalman’s first gallery appearance in New York—a sold-out show that gave him the courage to embrace the life of an artist—consisted entirely of black-and-white charcoal drawings, several stunning examples of which open this book. Currently, Segalman’s work can be found in many public and private collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; and the Fogg Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Author Susan F. Castle’s essay about the artist and his muses—the people, places, and things for which Richard Segalman has an abiding love—illuminates the exceptional work collected for this monograph. She combines excerpts from interviews with the artist and the three master printmakers with whom he has worked in Woodstock and Brooklyn, New York, and in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In addition, Anthony Kirk’s insightful introduction provides an essential historical perspective on the artist and his printmaking process.By Susan Forrest Castle
Foreword by Philip Eliasoph, PhD.
Introduction by Anthony Kirk

Hardcover
11 x 12 inches, 176 pages
97 color plates