Description:

Sorel Etrog, RCA (1933-2014), Canadian

SMALL FLIGHT STUDY, 1964

bronze, edition of 7
signed and numbered "2/"
8.25 x 14.25 x 4.5 in — 21 x 35.6 x 11.4 cm

Estimate: $20,000—30,000

  • Provenance: Gift of the artist
    Private Collection, Ontario
    By descent to the present Private Collection, Ontario
  • Dimensions: 8.25 x 14.25 x 4.5 in — 21 x 35.6 x 11.4 cm
  • Medium: bronze, edition of 7
  • Notes: Sorel Etrog’s steady interest in standing forms, often anthropomorphic, anchored his work in the human experience, natural balance and patterns of growth. Etrog intended for his figures “to soar from the base like the trunk of a tree … leaving the drama to the top.”[1]

    The elongated horizontal axis of Small Flight Study is a key departure from Etrog’s signature attenuated figures, and it is one of the artist’s earliest works to exhibit what became a recurring motif in his oeuvre: the link. Here two winged figures are adjoined with a connecting loop, creating tension simultaneously away from and toward one another in an attempt to fly. Created in 1964, Small Flight Study was produced following the artist’s return to Canada from Europe where his discovery of Etruscan art inspired his Links Period. The 15-foot long, fully-realised bronze sculpture, Flight, created for the Canadian Pavilion at Expo ’67 is currently located at the Bank of Canada Plaza at Wellington and Bank Street, Ottawa.

    Small Flight Study comes from the collection of renowned Canadian book designer Frank Newfeld (illustrator: Alligator Pie; designer: Leonard Cohen, The Spicebox of Earth (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1961); designer: Sheila Watson, The Double Hook (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1959); designer: William Withrow, Sorel Etrog (Toronto: Wilfeld, 1967). He and Etrog were friends and associates, and Small Flight Study was given to Newfeld by the artist.

    [1] Alma Mikulinsky, Sorel Etrog: Life and Work, Art Canada Institute, https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/sorel-etrog/style-and-technique/#the-links-period-196371
  • Condition: Very good overall condition.

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29 May 2024 18:00 EDT
Toronto, ON, CA

Waddington's

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
CA$0 CA$249 CA$10
CA$250 CA$499 CA$25
CA$500 CA$999 CA$50
CA$1,000 CA$1,999 CA$100
CA$2,000 CA$4,999 CA$250
CA$5,000 CA$9,999 CA$500
CA$10,000 CA$19,999 CA$1,000
CA$20,000 CA$49,999 CA$2,000
CA$50,000 CA$99,999 CA$5,000
CA$100,000 CA$299,999 CA$10,000
CA$300,000 CA$999,999 CA$25,000
CA$1,000,000 CA$1,999,999 CA$50,000
CA$2,000,000 CA$2,999,999 CA$100,000
CA$3,000,000 CA$4,999,999 CA$200,000
CA$5,000,000 + CA$300,000