Left panel: 76 x 38,5, center panel: 76 x 61, right panel: 76 x 38,5 cm
Left panel signed and dated lower right: 1/3 BAK 20; center panel signed and dated lower right: 2/3 BAK 20; right panel signed and dated lower right: 3/3 BAK 20
Welcome to ever intriguing world according to Samuel Bak: the master of questions.
This Triptych is an encyclopedia of questions based on 9000 other works that pose essential questions about out human condition. How do we act? Why do we act? Why do we exist? What is Good? How can we be present in a world in constant disarray? What can each of us do to positively effect a better and fairer playing field for all humankind?
Triptych for the Nameless manages to invite all of us to be present and responsible.
Brother Thomas wrote: Good is what we do, holy is what we become.
This painting may represent the opposite
Evil is what we do, condemned is what we become.
As we scan the world around us today
The Ukraine war continues.
The former President is about to be indicted for just one of many illegal if not evil deeds.
The Final Four tournament draws our attention to sport where little seems to matter except winning.
The planet continues to be degraded as we continue to ignore the ongoing effects our need for more and more.
Israel under the premiership of Bibi continues to come apart at its just seams.
The list continues. Please add.
And we have the opportunity to wander through another masterwork by Bak.
Left panel:
One of the two lighted Shabbat candles illuminates a strange scene. The candle holder is the hammer head and the candle the "handle". The nails support the holder/hammer as well as pierce the candle. A reminder of the nails of the crucifixion? The head of the hammer is hollowed out as if it is a boat. The melted wax pools in the "boat" as well on the ground. It seems to stabilize the invented structure. Additionally, a figure seems to be merged into the very round head of the hammer. The river below winds into the distant landscape towards the rising mountain and the beautiful darkening clouds.
Right panel:
We see the second of the Shabbat candles aflame. Above one of ancient arches of the Ghetto Vilna frames the scene. Again, the inverted hammer head acts as the candle holder. At the base the candle appears to be appropriately wood as it gradually becomes the dripping wax of the candle. This candle too has been pierced by the bent nail. A ribbon seems to secure the candle as it also slips over into the central panel and becomes a bow, possibly for a "gift". The hammer head holder seems to be standing on a crushed hammer head. The glow of fire fills the entire panel. Is it destruction or celebration?
Center panel:
Both side panels ease into the scene in the background. From the left the mountain range descends into center panel and the support wall for the arch dominates the right side of the center panel. It is touching an empty hammer head set vertically.
Two well attired figures appear. One with his back to us, hand raised with what appears to be a cannister slightly in front of him. The ribbon binds this figure gently from the right panel and eventually to the other figure on the extension next to the offering. He is without a leather glove. The ribbon extends upward paralleling the lighted flames of the two Shabbat candles. Is this a holy moment?
The central image of the "offering" seems to be the rounded bark covered tree trunk that is being used as an altar for an undecipherable flaming offering. It shall go Nameless.
The bent nail is wrapped in the flame from the altar. What is being honored? For whom is the sacrifice being offered?
The openness of this panel provides a strange sense of light or even beauty. How can that be? The painter of questions asks us and the subject if we will remain Nameless.
Anonymity encompasses genocide. The scale and sheer brutality leave open wounds, devoid of closure. Perpetrators are frequently nameless, faceless murderers. The victims are killed collectively, often unidentified in mass graves.
In Triptych for the Nameless, Bak presents elements of both darkness and light. Candles, hammers, and nails fill the frame.
In many religions, candles are lit in memory of the dead or as part of prayer. Candles can also evoke fire and the crematoria. Likewise, hammers and nails can be used to build, to create, to repair, but also to destroy, to harm.
In Triptych for the Nameless, candles form the base of hammers, while nails pierce both the wax and the fabrication of a hand, perhaps in the act of surrender.
In the middle panel, two figures raise their arms as if to call to one another amidst the flames. Are they searching for lost loved ones? If so, who took them away?
How can we keep in mind that which was destroyed?
Will the victims be remembered?
Will the killers be named?
Dr. Mark Celinscak, Department of History, University of Nebraska at Omaha,
BAK a Day, June 1, 2022
Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History (Samuel Bak Museum)
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