Sorel Etrog

Sorel Etrog, CM (August 29, 1933 – February 26, 2014) was a Romanian-born Canadian artist, writer, and philosopher best known for his work as a sculptor. He specialised in modern art works and contemporary sculpture.

Life

Born in Iaşi, Romania, in 1933, Etrog's formal art training began in 1945. In 1950, his family immigrated to Israel, where beginning in 1953 he studied at the Institute of Painting and Sculpture in Tel Aviv. His first solo exhibition in Tel Aviv in 1958 earned him a scholarship at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York City. In 1959, a meeting with Toronto art collector Samuel Zacks led to Etrog's first Canadian solo exhibition, at Gallery Moos in Toronto. Leaving New York for Toronto in 1963, Etrog became a Canadian citizen.

Career

Since the late 1950s, Etrog's work has been exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions across Canada and internationally.

Etrog's work is represented in major capitals and cities all over the world. He 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. In 1966, works by Etrog along with those of Alex Colville and Yves Gaucher represented Canada at the Venice Biennale. In 1968 Etrog was commissioned to design the Canadian Film Award that was originally named the "Etrog" and later renamed the "Genie".

Etrog is also known for his writings and published plays, poetry and non-fiction. Of his many collaborations, the most acclaimed are his book illustrations for Eugène Ionesco and Samuel Beckett in the late 1960s. Etrog and Marshall McLuhan collaborated on the publication Spiral, drawn from Etrog’s film of the same title which was broadcast on CBC television in 1975.

Numerous reviews, articles, monographs and catalogue texts have been written about Etrog, including Pierre Restany’s comprehensive textbook published by Prestel 2001. A major exhibition of Etrog’s paintings and drawing of the 1960s was exhibited in March 2008 at Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver.

Death and legacy

He died in February 26, 2014, aged 80. The Sorel Etrog sculpture centre and art garden will open at the Mount Sinai Hospital in 2015 and include over 100 pieces as part of its health and well-being intervention program.

Works

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  Sorel Etrog's Complexes of a young lady (1960/62)

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  Sorel Etrog's sculpture in Odette Sculpture Park Windsor Canada.

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  Sorel Etrog's sculpture Flight was commissioned by the Pavilion of Canada, Expo 67, and is now part of the Bank of Canada collection.

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  Sorel Etrog's sculpture Flight was commissioned by the Pavilion of Canada, Expo 67, and is now part of the Bank of Canada collection.

Honours

• Member of the Order of Canada, 1994
• Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Government of France, 1996
• Royal Canadian Academy of Arts

External links

• Sorel Etrog at the Internet Movie Database
• Sorel Etrog at Gallery Moos Toronto
• "Etrog", Artnet
• Sorel Etrog at the Tate Gallery