Additional Images

Provenance:

Gallery Moos Ltd., Toronto, ON
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.

Untitled (ca. 1960) maintains the distinctive ribbon-like graphic quality of Duet in a more compact form. Compressed in the figure’s central mass, Untitled’s ribbons suggest potential energy about to release. These sculptures of the early 1960s are fixed in place, and through his personal syntax Etrog, like Pygmalion, made forms that appear as though they could stir at any moment. By editing or elaborating these features, he enhanced the sculpture’s form and directed the viewer’s gaze.

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.