Sold for: $9,375

PROVENANCE
Gallery Moos, Toronto
Ben and Yael Dunkelman, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto
Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, June 17, 2009, lot 47, as Untitled
Acquired from the above by an Important Private Collection, Montreal

Sorel Etrog’s early life in Romania was characterized by dislocation, upheaval and fear stemming from Nazi occupation during the Second World War. In 1950, the Etrogs were able to emigrate from Iasi to Tel Aviv, where Sorel would begin a vibrant artistic career. While studying at New York’s Brooklyn Museum of Art from 1958 to 1963, Etrog was introduced to non-Western art—in particular that of African, Pacific Islander and pre-Columbian origin—as well as the abstract sculptures of Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and fellow Romanian artist Constantin Brâncusi. Through their influence, Etrog would shift from the two-dimensional planar geometries of his early Painted Constructions to develop an organic, three-dimensional sculptural language, defined by a flowing biomorphism, extended verticals and balanced, lightweight masses that seemed to float in space. Little Family Group was produced during this early period and depicts a family in tight embrace. Two figures are entwined, rising from the same base, while curved horizontal forms suggest arms cradling a smaller third figure. Linked together into one form, the arrangement suggests continuity and cohesion, recalling the closely knit family bonds that provided stability during the tumult of the artist’s early years.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars