Bak tells the story of a conversation he overheard while in the ghetto immediately after all the Jewish families had been forced out of their homes in Vilnius. One vocally displaced individual intensely lamented having forgotten to bring the key to their home when they were forced to rapidly evacuate under the mandate of Nazi oppression. The irony of such a futile concern was not lost on the young Bak then and the key has remained a poignant symbol of deep personal loss in his paintings. In a more metaphoric way, Bak also presents “key” images as possible mechanisms for opening and understanding enigmatic human dilemmas.
Although there is no actual key in this painting, the title and composition invite us to consider both approaches. The foreground depicts a tiny individual in front of a precariously supported damaged blood-red house with empty windows and a large crematoria chimney belching smoke. In the background are separate distal images of other houses or a town which makes the red house stand out in a uniquely personal manner. Is the tiny figure in search of a key? Of what use would the key be, given the devastated condition and likely impending destruction of the edifice? The symbolic vestige of ownership, the preserver of private space, an important protection for family has lost all its significance in this world of oppressive eradication.
As smoke rises from the house’s chimney, it billows into a large cloud with stone-like characteristics and becomes indistinguishable from a surrealistic backdrop of folded, torn cloth or perhaps a shroud seemingly suspended form the sky above. There is even the form of a house with windows shaped into the complex. Bak often displays the dense smoke from chimneys as objects and concepts by giving the extruded vapors solid texture and forms like tombstones or other structurally recognizable objects. The shroud of material envelops the house and flows onto adjacent land creating several irregular triangles which might eventually form a more recognizable star of David.
As the observer engages this painting, there is a somber identification with the tiny person and with the symbolically enshrouded house. This can be seen as a visual projection of Bak’s emotions which he invites us share. With this larger perspective, we are now in search of a key for explanation and understanding. Here is isolation, destruction, and death at a personal and community level. How and why did this happen? What is the key to prevent any future atrocities which create this kind of emotional landscape? We must keep searching!
Dr. Carl M. Herbert (Guest Writer)
BAK a Day, March 24, 2023
----------------------------------------------
I am still looking for the key to unlock the mysteries of life.
In lieu of finding it, let us greet each day with Gratitude and Joy and Gladness.
A most beautiful painting in color and texture inviting us into the Bak world of questions.
A variety of houses: a facade, a ghost-like empty house with a chimney belching smoke. Another house with all windows alight
A single figure is seen in front of the empty house.
The scene is set on a barely supported precipice.
All cracked. Will it slip away in the next minute?
Contribute
You are in possession of valuable information about this artwork and want it published on the website in the catalogue raisonné?
Please write to us:
.jpg)
Contribute
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest