Menu Create a Collector Profile

Ritual Dancer, 1960-1962 by Sorel Etrog

Artwork by Sorel Etrog, Ritual Dancer, 1960-1962

Sorel Etrog
Ritual Dancer, 1960-1962

bronze
stamped signature and numbered 3/7 on the base
57 x 15 x 9.5 in ( 144.8 x 38.1 x 24.1 cm ) ( overall )

Auction Estimate: $50,000.00$30,000.00 - $50,000.00

Price Realized $28,800.00
Sale date: November 27th 2024

Provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto
Literature:
W. J. Withrow, "Sorel Etrog: Sculpture", Verona, 1967, unpaginated, illustrated
While studying art at Tel Aviv’s Arts Institute for Painting and Sculpture in the 1950s, Sorel Etrog created three-dimensional paintings inspired by Cubist collage, modernist music and constructivist reliefs. In 1958, he received a scholarship to attend the Brooklyn Museum of Art School. Upon his arrival in New York City, Etrog was drawn to African and Oceanic art due to their expressive shapes and began incorporating these elements into his work. While trying to find gallery representation in New York City, Etrog befriended the prominent Jewish-Canadian art collector, Samuel J. Zacks. Zacks purchased one of Etrog’s paintings and invited him to spend the summer of 1959 on Lake Huron with him in Southampton. While on this sojourn, Etrog created his first sculptures, out of wood, plaster and later, bronze. Etrog was also becoming acquainted with the sculpture of Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Constantin Brancusi–all artists whose works were collected by Sam Zacks. The combination of these new sources of inspiration would influence Etrog’s work in the years to come.

Etrog’s first Canadian exhibition also took place in 1959, held on October 1st at Gallery Moos in Toronto. Gallery Moos gave Etrog a second exhibition in 1961, which caught the attention of the important American art collector Joseph Hirshhorn, who immediately purchased eight sculptures. This sale was unprecedented in the Canadian art world at the time and was newsworthy enough to be reported in all the major Toronto papers. Etrog’s work began to be recognized internationally as well, in part thanks to Zacks’s connections and unwavering support. In 1963, following Etrog’s first solo exhibition in New York, the Museum of Modern Art purchased "Ritual Dancer". Other casts of the sculpture edition are in the collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.

Share this item with your friends

Sorel Etrog
(1933 - 2014) RCA

Current SalesHighlightsWatch Artist

Based in Toronto for more than fifty years, Sorel Etrog was born in Iasi, Romania, in 1933. He is most well-known as a sculptor, but he also illustrated books, painted, and wrote poetry, plays, and films. His sculptures were influenced by his adolescence spent under Soviet rule and an interest in philosophical writings that questioned the nature of post-war society. He was also inspired by his grandfather who was a carpenter. Etrog, along with his parents and sister attempted to flee Romania in 1946 but were caught. His parents were then imprisoned for several weeks. Finally, Etrog and his family left Romania in 1950 and made it to the Sha’ar Aliyaa refugee camp near Haifa, Israel.

While serving mandatory time in the Israel Defense Forces’ medical corps in 1953 he began studying art at Tel Aviv’s Arts Institute for Painting and Sculpture. Inspired by Cubist collage and modernist music, he created three-dimensional paintings, mimicking constructivist reliefs. In 1958, he received a scholarship to attend school at the Brooklyn Museum of Art School.

Upon arrival in New York City, Etrog became drawn to African and Oceanic art due to their expressive shapes and began incorporating these elements into his work. While trying to find gallery representation in New York City, Samuel J. Zachs purchased one of Etrog’s paintings and invited Etrog to spend the summer of 1959 in Southampton on Lake Huron with him. While in Southampton, Etrog created his first wooden sculptures and gained gallery representation from Gallery Moos in Toronto. This encounter inspired the young artist to apply for Canadian citizenship and eventually move to Toronto in 1963.

In his mature sculptural works, Etrog explores spontaneous symbols, primal elements and the relationship between form and symbol. The artist described his art as "tension created by pulling together and pulling apart, with being stuck and being freed, a world of grabbing and holding on and losing hold...bringing shapes together but at the same time giving each an independence."

After immigrating to Canada, Etrog had his first traveling exhibition in 1965. The show began at Gallery Moos, then traveled to New York City, Los Angeles, and Montreal. In 1966, Etrog, alongside Yves Gaucher and Alex Colville, represented Canada at the Venice Biennale. He later received several important commissions, including those for Expo ’67, Montreal; SunLife Centre, Toronto; Windsor Sculpture Garden, Windsor, Ontario; Los Angeles County Museum, and Olympic Park in Seoul, Korea. Before his death in 2014, Etrog’s art was included in a retrospective at Buschlen Mowatt in Vancouver in 2003.

Literature Sources:
"A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume I: A-F", compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1977

Mikulinsky, Alma, “Sorel Etrog: Life and Work,” Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2018

We extend our thanks to Danie Klein, York University graduate student in art history, for writing and contributing this artist biography.