Anna Bak - Introduction

By this choice of pictures I wish to give an idea of the work of a lifetime, including painting, photography, sculpture, drawing, and combinations of them all. What matters to me the most is to show here for the first time works of the last twenty years that have never been exhibited.

INTRODUCING MYSELF

My name is Anna Bak. I was born in Rome in 1936. I went to the French Lycée in Rome, and then studied Political Science in Paris. In 1954, I radically changed direction: I went to live in rue Jacob and entered the École des Beaux-Arts. For several years I painted in the « atelier Souverbie ». There I met the student who became my husband. His talent was recognised very early, and from then on his work took us and our three daughters to live and exhibit in many countries - Italy, Belgium, Israel, the USA, France, Germany, England and Switzerland.

It was a very enjoyable and interesting life, but with all the moving about, I had to make my work fit in with the time and space available in each location. I managed nonetheless to put on about fifteen solo shows, starting with clay sculptures, later switching mainly to photography, in Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, New York, Boston, Rome and Geneva.

About twenty years ago, I unexpectedly found myself alone with plenty of time and space to spare. I started to work very intensely and in a different way.

I am soon going to be seventy five years old and have suddenly realised that the work I have produced in the last two decades is piling up in my studio. Time is passing so quickly in the solitude I have chosen in order to work most productively. I have never contacted any galleries, or shown my work to anyone. But now the time has come when I would like it to be seen, and I am eager to find out what kind of reaction it produces. It may be late in the day for me to seek this response, but this is the main purpose of the site.

ABOUT MY WORK

I start from an idea, usually a mood, a feeling, or an emotional state. I then search for a place or an object to photograph which best expresses that idea. I have developed my own techniques in the darkroom, aiming to enhance the pictorial qualities of my work rather than seeking for photographic accuracy or realistic precision. Only recently have I worked digitally.

Negatives have become the raw material of my work to be used in various ways for the free interpretation of the image. I obtain many different results from a single original negative. I play with superimpositions, I use developer as a means of painting on the image, and filters to obtain particular hues. I often juxtapose the prints thus obtained, or cut and recompose them in large collages. Sometimes I paint over them, still aiming for the best possible expression of the original idea. Although I consider my latest works my best, I include here some earlier ones. Therefore this site, though not exhaustive,is a kind of retrospective.

DO GET IN TOUCH

Most of my art belongs to the pre-digital era, so many pieces have had to be rephotographed digitally for the site. Much of their quality has been lost in this process. However, the original works are now available for shows and/or sale. I would greatly appreciate any comments - do send a few words by email !

Thank you.

Anna Bak