Alma Mikulinsky, "Sorel Etrog: Life & Work" [online publication], Art Canada Institute, Toronto, 2019, page 67
In the early 1960s, while living in New York City and studying at the Brooklyn Museum Art School, Sorel Etrog was fascinated by the museum’s collection of African and Oceanic art. His bronze sculptures of this time were inspired by natural forms and vegetation, aligned with a fascination in the wider art world with biomorphism. While trying to find gallery representation in New York City, Etrog befriended the prominent Jewish-Canadian art collector, Samuel J. Zachs. Etrog was also becoming acquainted with the sculpture of Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Constantin Brancusi–all artists whose works were collected by Sam Zachs. The combination of these new sources of inspiration would influence Etrog’s work in the years to come.
Shortly before moving to Toronto in 1963, Etrog embarked on a trip to Italy, France, Greece, the Netherlands and Israel. In Florence, he encountered Etruscan art for the first time, which would soon inspire the artist’s “Links” period, consisting of sculptures and paintings featuring a motif of two elements connected by a loop. This theme would dominate his art for eight years, during which he used it to articulate the existential contrasts of human life.
Deeply influenced by ancient carving and sculpture techniques, Etrog notes: “I was lucky to have discovered the Etruscan links which showed me how to join the multiple shapes organically. The Link created a tension at the point where they joined, where they pulled together or pulled apart.” As he further explained, “I saw in [the link] a strong device for connecting and creating tension, mirroring the tension in our very existence with and within the outside world.” "The Queen II" shows the early development of this series, as it dates to 1962-63 when Etrog left New York, travelled, and then settled in Toronto. The bronze sculpture is composed of various abstract forms that are simultaneously geometric and organic, linked together at various angles. The three-dimensional artwork can be viewed from all angles, providing multiple perspectives of the twisting and turning forms. The intimate bronze presents a harmonious combination of Etrog’s wide range of influences at a very particular transitional phase in his career.
