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Flag, Lithograph from zinc plate
Samuel Bak
1976
Kunst-Archive.net
Symbol
Pear
Samuel Bak gives the pear a dual meaning: it symbolises the lost paradise and the encounter with the hell of war. In order to preserve the lost paradise, the artist ‘arms’ the pear in metal armour, locks it with several locks, but still paints a keyhole, a key mould – an opportunity for himself (or any one of us) to ‘unlock the lost paradise’ and regain spiritual balance.
Which interpretation of this symbol helps to restore your inner balance?
Armor
Symbolises courage and strength that can be used as protection from the outside world.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Faith
Gives man moral support.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Balance
Paradise lurking inside, and war raging on the outside.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Hope
When the door closes, we look for a keyhole through which we look onto hope.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
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House with Key, Oil on canvas
Samuel Bak
1978
Kunst-Archive.net
Symbol
Key
Having a key, tangible or intangible (e.g., knowledge), provides an opportunity to unlock the door. In fairytales, the hero is sent to look for a key that will help free a kidnapped princess, unlock the door to the fairytale caslte, and the like. The search for the key helps the hero gain knowledge and experience. In Bak’s artwork, the imaginary key mould or the key itself is a tool that helps us move into the bright world of childhood and offsets painful experiences thus cre-ating psychological balance.
Which interpretation of this symbol helps restore your inner balance?
Courage
Resolutely overcoming the challenges of life makes a person stronger.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Travel
Going on adventures and traveling gives you the opportunity to get to know yourself and the world around you.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Knowledge
As we gain knowledge, we accumulate experience and wisdom.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Childhood
These are memories of a period in life where your personality is formed.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
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Les Adieux, Oil on linen
Samuel Bak
1973
Kunst-Archive.net
Symbol
Angel
Samuel Bak’s angels also ‘reflect’ on the tragedy of the Jewish nation during World War II. They remind of a ‘pensive Christ’. In the paintings we also see angels with cut wings or blindfolded. The artist has created a series titled Fallen Angels. These are people who failed, who made mistakes, who perished, who tried to do a good job, but eventually lost their lives during the Holocaust. Reflection on the events and reconciliation with the situation is the first step to healing and to the restoration of spiritual balance.
Which interpretation of this symbol helps to restore your inner balance?
Reconcilation
It is most difficult for a person to come to terms with themselves, but this reconciliation restores internal balance.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Reflections
Reflection on the events, reconciliation to the situation is the first step to healing and to the restoration of spiritual balance.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Heritage
Ancestral heritage belongs to everyone – only reconciliation can bring inner peace.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Man
A man can be an angel too, by bringing balance to the development of historical events through his noble works.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
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Prolongation, Oil on linen
Samuel Bak
1996
Kuns-Archive.net
Symbol
Tree
In Judaism there is a concept Lo Tash’chit which means that we must care for trees in the same way as we care for people. In Israel, the beginning of spring is celebrated with a tree planting festival in an effort to restore the plant population that has declined over the past year. If there were no trees and no forest, the war refugee in Bak’s artwork would have nowhere to hide, just like the man who survived the Holocaust and who came to the Paneriai forest to mourn the souls who are gone.
Which interpretation of this symbol helps you to restore inner balance?
Renewal
In the spring, all vegetation, including trees, is reborn, restoring the balance in nature that has withered during the cold season.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Destiny
The green tree of today will have to surrender to the laws of destiny tomorrow and drop its leaves.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Lee
The foliage of the trees and the forest allow you to hide and find a safe shelter.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Goodbye
The forest provides reverent peace and allows you to bid goodbye to departed souls.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
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Reassembling, Oil on canvas
Samuel Bak
2000
Kunst-Archive.net
Symbol
Chess
A rational game of chess fine-tunes our lives for a moment: here everything happens according to strict rules, but it also encourages ingenuity, intelligence and wisdom. In addition, the game helps us to temporarily forget ourselves, encourages experimentation and evokes interest in the possibility of taking on other ‘roles’. No matter what our circumstances, once we have emerged in the reality of the game, we can take some time off from everyday life.
Which interpretation of this symbol helps you restore your inner balance?
Rules
In a game of chess, everything happens according to strict rules, but the game also encourages ingenuity, intelligence and wisdom.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Oblivion
The form of the game helps us to temporarily forget ourselves and encourages experimentation.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Respite
We need to learn to relax and appreciate moments of ordinary life.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Rationality
Rational human behaviour is to adapt to the rules of the world that surrounds us.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
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Fortuna E, Oil on canvas
Samuel Bak
2017
Kunst-Archive.net
Symbol
Dice
The English word 'die' or 'dice' is derived from the old French word 'dé' and the Latin word 'datum' – ‘the given’. In the series of paintings with dice, Bak deliberates on what is the given and what humanity has been entrusted with. Only abandoned cities appear on canvas, but a gambling dice can become the main piece of a ruin puzzle. Lady Fortune also flashes by the ruins – a lone figure resting in a temporary shelter of what remains. The dice are a hint of opportunity and anticipation of what else will be ‘given’ to us.
Which interpretation of this symbol helps you to restore your inner balance?
The Given
Your reality is not something that unconditionally goes without saying. It can be easily constructed from unrelated coincidences and can easily collapse.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Puzzle
The puzzle of success can be completed by one small coincidence that occurs by merely throwing the dice.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Ruins
It is a temporary surviving refuge where success is quietly hidden and waiting for you.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Anticipation
The dice are a hint of opportunity and anticipation of what else will be ‘given’ to us.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
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Memorabilia I, Oil on canvas
Samuel Bak
2003
Kunst-Archive.net
Symbol
Vessels
When asked about the metaphor of broken vessels, Bak tells an old legend: every morning an old woman, carrying two jugs, would go to get water from a stream. One jug was cracked. Once a passer-by asked her why she was carrying water in a cracked jug thus bringing far less water home than she could. The woman replied: ‘Have you noticed how many flowers bloom along the path I carry water on? If the jug hadn’t been cracked, the flowers wouldn’t be blooming like that.’
Which interpretation of this symbol helps you to restore your inner balance?
Cracking
Man’s minor shortcomings do not prevent him from fulfilling his mission in life.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Everyday Life
The charm of everyday life is revealed in consciously choosing to live in it.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Routine
The daily routine is one of the most important drivers of positive change.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Wellbeing
Human wellbeing, in order not to break like porcelain, must depend not only on external stimuli, but also on the internal state.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
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The Wall, Oil on linen
Samuel Bak
1967
Kunst-Archive.net
Symbol
City
Many carry an image of their childhood city in their heart. The city of childhood itself usually still exists, but its identity has changed, it is still here and now, but not as we remember or feel it. It is this perceptible difference that can become the starting point of creation: in art we convey the spiritual state, our own sense of connection with the city. The Jewish Vilnius of Bak's childhood is gone, but it is still the starting point of his artwork.
Which interpretation of this symbol helps you to restore your inner balance?
Support
‘Give me a fulcrum, and I shall move the world,’ said Archimedes, an ancient Greek mathematician, physicist and mechanic.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Stone
Human values are the cornerstone of withstanding the storms of life.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Emptiness
By filling the emptiness with faith, one can feel the abundance of life.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Childhood
Childhood memories provide the impetus to create and live.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
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Adam and Eve and The Sweat and the Pain, Oil on canvas
Samuel Bak
2009
Kunst-Archive.net
Symbol
Adam and Eve
'Tikkun olam' also stands for the restoration of harmony in the world. The life of each of us can be affected by wars, catastrophes, or personal losses. If we survive, we must rise, go forward, not give up in despair, and rebuild our lost world. To create a new reality on the ruins of the lost one, to rediscover spiritual balance. Art can become an essential therapeutic tool involving a sheet of paper to lay down experiences and seek relief. Finally, creating what inspires others.
Which interpretation of this symbol helps you to restore your inner balance?
Harmony
Being in harmony with the world brings inner balance to man.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Creation
Creation helps us to hear and understand ourselves and to grow stronger.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Work
Work and initiative enable a person to change.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
Outlook
A person’s outlook can affect their reality.
Another symbol Answer to all questions
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Peace and War and Peace and… | oil on canvas
Samuel Bak
2006
Samuel Bak Museum, Vilnius
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Art rebalances
Thank you for attending!
Your choices show that you will really like this work of Samuel Bak. Real life impressions are stronger - visit Samuel Bak Museum and see it live!
Waiting for you
Samuel Bak Museum
of Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History
Naugarduko str. 10, Vilnius, Lithuania
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A Possibility | oil on canvas
Samuel Bak
1990
Samuel Bak Museum, Vilnius
You have successfully completed the theme
Art rebalances
Thank you for attending!
Your choices show that you will really like this work of Samuel Bak. Real life impressions are stronger - visit Samuel Bak Museum and see it live!
Waiting for you
Samuel Bak Museum
of Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History
Naugarduko str. 10, Vilnius, Lithuania
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Eye for an Eye A | oil on canvas
Samuel Bak
2008
Samuel Bak Museum, Vilnius
You have successfully completed the theme
Art rebalances
Thank you for attending!
Your choices show that you will really like this work of Samuel Bak. Real life impressions are stronger - visit Samuel Bak Museum and see it live!
Waiting for you
Samuel Bak Museum
of Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History
Naugarduko str. 10, Vilnius, Lithuania
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Time is Money | oil on canvas
Samuel Bak
2008
Samuel Bak Museum, Vilnius
You have successfully completed the theme
Art rebalances
Thank you for attending!
Your choices show that you will really like this work of Samuel Bak. Real life impressions are stronger - visit Samuel Bak Museum and see it live!
Waiting for you
Samuel Bak Museum
of Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History
Naugarduko str. 10, Vilnius, Lithuania