David Segel (1921 - 2005)

Man With Necktie, third quarter 20th century, oil on canvas signed lower right, 29 x 23 3/4 inches, titled verso, presented in a new frame

$1950

David Segel was an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and educator whose career spanned more than five decades in the United States and Europe. Working in a wide range of media including oil painting, bronze and wood sculpture, and expressive drawing, Segel developed a modernist style distinguished by bold simplification of form, as in the case of the barely recognizable figure in Man with Necktie.

Born in 1921, Segel received a broad and rigorous artistic education. He first studied at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh before attending Lynchburg College in Virginia. Seeking exposure to the newest developments in modern art and design, he continued his studies at the Institute of Design in Chicago, an institution deeply influenced by the Bauhaus, and later at the Art Institute of Chicago's school. Following his studies, Segel relocated to Paris, where he lived, worked, and taught for a number of years. Immersion in the city’s vibrant postwar art scene exposed him to European abstraction, modern sculpture, and then contemporary figurative painting. Throughout his career, Segel exhibited widely in both Europe and the United States. His work appeared in galleries from Paris to Los Angeles, including at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Segel received numerous honors during his career, including the First Carnegie Prize and the Hallmark International Art Award. He is listed in Who Was Who in American Art and other standard references.