Additional Images

Provenance:

Private Collection, Los Angeles, CA
Private Collection, Toronto, ON

Note:

No Canadian sculptor understood and created their own version of mid-twentieth century modernism like Sorel Etrog did in the 1960s. The three bronze sculptures of this period offered in this auction embody his achievement, and their enduring appeal attests to their quality and rigour.

Following his earliest mature works, the thoroughly abstract Painted Constructions (1952–1960), Etrog’s work regularly drew inspiration from the visible world and from anthropomorphized figures. Starting in the late 1950s and through the process of abstracting from the human figure, Etrog choreographed the viewer’s gaze.

With Venetian (ca. 1965) Etrog’s links motif (1963-1971) and the diagonal stem upon which the figure rests—or pulls away—suggest another kind of movement that only exists potentially in the minds of their beholder. As sculpture like Etrog’s is based on contours and volumes, he heightens their effect with the subtle patination that enhances the sculptures’ features in the same way Henry Moore did with his work.

This sculpture was conceived as Etrog’s career was taking off. It represents the essence of Etrog’s sculpture during this definitive moment in his career.

We thank Gregory Humeniuk, art historian, consultant and curator, for this essay.