Auction 160

Online Catalogue with all Lots / Auction 160
Modern and Contemporary Art

Saturday, 11 July 2026 at 11:00 am - After sale

Lot 209 Samuel Bak. Stillleben mit Birnen. 1976. …

Stillleben mit Birnen. 1976. Gouache und Kreide auf Velin. 104,5 x 75 cm. Signiert und datiert, verso betitelt und bezeichnet. Punktuell auf Unterlage montiert und in Passepartout freigestellt. - An den Rändern teils sehr leicht bestoßen. Insgesamt sehr gut.

Surrealismus – Privatsammlung, Düsseldorf. - Samuel Bak entwickelte über sieben Jahrzehnte künstlerischer Produktion hinweg eine Bildsprache, die persönliche und jüdische Geschichte in einem vielschichtigen Geflecht aus Allegorie und Metapher verwebt. Zu den zentralen Motiven seines Werkes zählt die Birne, die bei Bak weit über ihre Rolle als Stillleben-Requisite hinausgeht: Als Vanitas-Symbol zugleich Familienporträt und Stellvertreter für die Ermordeten, dient sie ihm als konzeptueller Rahmen für eine Auseinandersetzung mit Verlust, Erinnerung und Identität, in der er sich nicht selten selbst als Birne portraitiert. - Samuel Bak entstammt einer jüdisch-litauischen Familie aus Wilna und überlebte den Holocaust durch mehrfache Flucht. Nach Kriegsende lebte er mit seiner Mutter in Landsberg am Lech und erhielt seine künstlerische Ausbildung u. a. an der Blocherer Schule in München sowie später an der École des Beaux-Arts in Paris bei Jean Souverbie. Seit 1952 war er an der Bezalel-Akademie in Jerusalem tätig und wirkte darüber hinaus als Bühnen- und Kostümbildner für renommierte Theater in Tel Aviv. Bak hatte Einzelausstellungen in der "Carnegie International" in Pittsburgh, im Tel Aviv Museum of Art, im Jüdischen Museum Frankfurt, im Bezalel-Museum und in Yad Vashem.

Surrealism – Surrealism. - Gouache and chalk on vellum. Signed and 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.

Result: 1600 €

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This piece is subject to differential taxation. There is a 29,5% buyer's premium on the hammer price. The value added tax is included but not displayable according to §25a UstG.

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On the sales proceeds of all original works of fine art and photography, whose authors have not yet died 70 years before the end of the sale, an additional 2% (subject to change) of the hammer prices from 400€ will be charged pro rata for the VG Bild-Kunst, which represents the copyrights of visual artists according to § 26 UrhG.

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Auction 160