“Modernism is not a matter of tinsel; but it is a question of extracting from beings and things a transcription that we have not yet seen, of finding a new degree of acuity [...] by the presence in the methods of a tasty and unexpected taste."
"Do you really think that my poor shorn sheep's head could adorn a catalog or interest anyone? I'd like to... But really, you're going to have to use a lot of talent for that head to make it look like it has some in it"
"She resemble Maurice de Vlaminck. She is a very great artist. In front of her works, I feel an impression similar to that which Mussorgsky's music gives me: brand new music. Chana Orloff sculpture didn't drag itself into the dust of academic laboratories... This sculpture exudes feelings of serenity and completeness"
"Chana Orloff was one of the first women to venture into the field of sculpture. She brought the freshness and richness of everyday life to modern sculpture. Thanks to her sculpture becomes everyone's heritage, accessible to everyone, and if we weren't afraid of being misunderstood, we would say that she was the most democratic of contemporary sculptors. But if it's made accessible to the general public, it's to allow them to better access art…"
"Few artists [...] have in this century come this far and have happily done as much as Chana Orloff respecting the domain of creativity without neglecting that ways of creativity are human, as long as the idea that we can create something divine is still human. Chana Orloff modeled similar effigies, beyond the wildest realistic expectations."
Undoubtedly her first works show a simplification of the plans, a stylization which could agree with the research of Cubism. These processes respond to another need for her which is very personal: that of rendering nature in its most basic forms and to apply extreme candor to this end. Gentle candor which is tinged with pleasant irony... The human face interests our artist, both the curves of female grace and the marked relief of male attitudes, and the movement of animal physiognomy. She is essentially a portraitist and storyteller..."
"From Cubism, she retained the need to fix the elementary character of forms without seeking geometric reduction. The mastery of direct cutting of wood, which is rooted in the craftsmanship of her origin country, Ukraine, explains her orientation towards a bare, personal style, in accordance with the renewing needs of the moment..."
