Theodore Allen Heinrich, Etrog: Painting on Wood/ Sculptures/ Drawings, introduction, Gallery Moos, Toronto, 1959, unpaginated
Similar to the artist’s sculptural works of embracing couples, “Standing Family Group Study” exemplifies the artist’s exploration into human balance in sinuous forms. Whereas the couple studies softly meld into the pairs forms, unifying into a rounded abstracted form and imbuing a romantic and sensual aspect to the work, this work showcases more solid and weighted symmetrical proportions, mirroring the strength required for a symbiotic relationship.
Describing Sorel Etrog's art, Theodore Allen Heinrich wrote: “[Etrog] has a strongly musical sense for rhythms, balances and silence. He has a profound capacity for experiencing and conveying emotion. His work is imbued with poetic fantasy.”
This work shows the strength and balance required for a unified bond between family members, harnessing the weight and formal qualities of bronze as an expression of this notion. Hinged at the heart and linked at the heads of the figures, the sculpture explores both the emotional and intellectual needs and tension within the family relationship. Balanced and stoic, the figures capture the universal theme of human intimacy in all manners of relationships in a visual representation of negotiated balance and equity.
