Signed and dated lower right: S. BAK-MARKOWSKY 1948
Child of The Ghetto & In a Maline & Refugees 1946-1948
In May 1945, WW2 ended. In the fall of that year; after many escapades, (described in my book "Painted in Words") I found myself with my mother in a refugee camp of displaced persons at Landsberg am Lech in southern Germany.
A caring UNRA officer who was impressed with my talent provided me with paper and paints and enabled me to replunge into my artistic passion. I painted landscapes, still lifes, figures, imaginary scenes related to my various readings, and from time to time, remembrances of the tragic years of which I was a rare survivor.
The three watercolors belong to that time. The merely artistic freedom, virtuosity and daring of these works, done at age 13 or 14, still baffles the old artist in me.
Where did I pick up the blue hue of the child’s frozen face, the traces in the snow, the free rendering of an old wall. The expressionistic brushwork -- where did it come from?
The energy in the dark shapes that encompass the group of refugees responds to a mature artist’s need of abstraction, of dynamism and balance of shapes, which is at the background of every artistic expression.
The watercolor of the people, who are trembling of fear in the darkness of a Maline, (hiding place) gathering near a candle that casts a long shadow still grips my imagination. . .
That candle kept on returning and reproposing itself to many paintings of my later art.
Samuel Bak, January 7, 2023 email UNO Omaha-Collection
Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center, The University of Omaha, Nebraska
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