Additional Images

Provenance:

Private Collection, Toronto

Literature:

William J. Withrow, Sorel Etrog: Sculpture, Wilfeld Publishing Co. Limited, Toronto, 1967, pages 11 and 23.

Pierre Restany, Sorel Etrog, Prestel Verlag, Munich, London, New York, 2001, page 49, pages 48-69 for the chapter entitled “1952-60 Painted Constructions” and page 51 for Harbour 1, 1953, reproduced and page 53 for Harbour III, 1953, reproduced in colour.

Ihor Holubizky (ed.), Sorel Etrog: Five Decades, Art Gallery of Ontario, 2013, pages 16-18 for three examples of painted constructions from the mid-1950s reproduced in colour.

Note:

In his 1967 publication on the sculpture of Sorel Etrog, William Withrow asserts that “all Etrog’s sculptures have strong developmental connections to his wood constructions.” While Etrog’s painted constructions are seldom seen on the market, it is not for lack of critical acclaim or, for that matter, popular appeal. Rather these works, produced quite early in his artistic development - and considered to be his most experimental work - are also among the rarest. Their impact on what was to follow must not be underestimated. Withrow writes: “Both the shapes and moods of those early plywood wall sculptures though constructionist in form, but always more expressionistic in effect, still haunt his present work.”

When Sorel Etrog moved with his family to Israel in 1950, he was exposed as never before to both modern art and music. He soon felt the need to develop his own style and so began working on shaped canvases, remarking: “I became dissatisfied working with the canvas and I started to construct my paintings directly in wood. This way I could extend even further the irregular frame and the raised contours outlining shape and colour. Inner and outer space interacted.”