Document Type

Monograph

Publication Date

9-2019

Publication Title

Witness: The Art of Samuel Bak

Abstract

Encountering Samuel Bak's art for the first time is a compelling experience. Reminiscent of the great Renaissance and Baroque artists, from Albrecht Dürer to Michelangelo to Bernini and Rembrandt, the artist renders every detail and texture of his landscapes, figures, and still-life elements with near photographic precision. Only for a moment do his astounding feats of illusionism distract the viewer from what is the unreality of Bak’s painted world: places where keys spill down streets, giant heads emerge from walls, and molten chess boards cover the landscape. Painting the unreal or impossible in a real way was a strategy employed by Surrealist masters such as Dali and Magritte. Distancing himself from the Surrealist movement, Bak’s subjects come from his own experiences and not the world of dreams or unconscious thoughts.

Comments

“Witness: The Art of Samuel Bak” exhibition at the University of Nebraska at Omaha is made possible due to the financial support of the Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy and the Natan and Hannah Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies.

This exhibit is generously on loan from Pucker Gallery, Boston, MA.

Design by AIGA-UNO

Printed in Canada by Friesens, Inc.

The art and its copyright belongs to Samuel Bak.

Written work is copyright and authors should be contacted for reuse.

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