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209
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International Post-war Bak, Samuel
Still Life with Pears.
See original version (German)
209
-
International Post-war Bak, Samuel
Still Life with Pears.
See original version (German)
Estimate €1,800 - €2,400
Voluntary lot
Description
International Post-war
Bak, Samuel
Still Life with Pears. 1976. Gouache and chalk on vellum. 104.5 x 75 cm. Signed and dated; titled and labelled on the reverse. Mounted at points on a backing board and framed with a passe-partout. – Very slight scuffing to the edges in places. Overall, very good condition.
Private collection, Düsseldorf. - Over seven decades of artistic production, Samuel Bak developed a visual language that weaves personal and Jewish history into a multi-layered tapestry of allegory and metaphor. Among the central motifs of his work is the pear, which for Bak goes far beyond its role as a still-life prop: As a symbol of vanitas, simultaneously a family portrait and a stand-in for those murdered, it serves as a conceptual framework for his exploration of loss, memory and identity, in which he often portrays himself as a pear. - Samuel Bak came from a Jewish-Lithuanian family in Vilnius and survived the Holocaust by fleeing on several occasions. After the war, he lived with his mother in Landsberg am Lech and received his artistic training at, amongst other places, the Blocherer School in Munich and later at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Jean Souverbie. From 1952, he taught at the Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem and also worked as a set and costume designer for renowned theatres in Tel Aviv. Bak held solo exhibitions at the ‘Carnegie International’ in Pittsburgh, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Jewish Museum in Frankfurt, the Bezalel Museum and at Yad Vashem.
Surrealism. – Gouache and chalk on vellum. Signed, dated, titled and inscribed on the reverse. – Very slight scuffing to the edges in places. Mounted in places on a backing board and framed with a mat. Overall, in very good condition. – Private collection, Düsseldorf. - Over seven decades of artistic practice, Samuel Bak developed a visual language that weaves personal and Jewish history into a multi-layered tapestry of allegory and metaphor. Among the central motifs of his work is the pear, which in Bak’s art goes far beyond its role as a still-life prop: as a vanitas symbol, simultaneously a family portrait and a stand-in for the murdered, it serves as a conceptual framework for an exploration of loss, memory and identity, in which he often portrays himself as a pear. - Samuel Bak came from a Lithuanian-Jewish family in Vilnius and survived the Holocaust by fleeing on several occasions. After the war, he lived with his mother in Landsberg am Lech and received his artistic training at, amongst other places, the Blocherer School in Munich and later at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Jean Souverbie. From 1952, he taught at the Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem and also worked as a set and costume designer for renowned theatres in Tel Aviv. Bak held solo exhibitions at ‘Carnegie International’ in Pittsburgh, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Jewish Museum in Frankfurt, the Bezalel Museum and at Yad Vashem.
See original version (German)
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Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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