Gourmet Gift for Art Lovers: The Samuel Bak Museum

The Samuel Bak Museum will be situated on Naugarduko St. and will function as a branch of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum. This will be the first museum in the world devoted solely to the art of this famous painter. 
 

Samuel Bak was born in 1933 in Vilnius. Already at the age of nine he held his first exhibition of drawings. Samuel Bak miraculously survived the Nazi occupation and ended up at a displaced persons camp in Germany. Later the artist lived in Israel and Western Europe. In 1993 Samuel Bak settled down in the United States of America where he continued with his creative endeavours.
 

In the eve of the museum’s opening Samuel Bak will be bestowed the Honorary Citizenship of Vilnius. On the day of the opening the world famous artist will donate to Lithuania and the museum 54 of his works that will be exhibited as of 17 November 2017. In the foreseeable future the museum is planning to open the second exhibition space and an education centre.
 

According to Samuel Bak, Vilnius has a special place in his mundane and creative life.
 

‘The city of my birth is forever etched into my soul. Vilnius, The Jerusalem of Lithuania had been an essential centre of Jewish culture, and a source of Litvak individual pride. Becoming part of my city's cultural landscape is incredibly meaningful,’ says the artist.
 

Samuel Bak will spend a week in Vilnius. The artist will take part in the opening events devoted to the new museum, including the official ceremony of bestowing Honorary Citizenship of Vilnius which will take place at the City Hall, have meetings with journalists and society at large, and give a masterclass in painting to art students. The artist will be accompanied by his wife Heidy Josee, their daughters and grandchildren.

 

For more information please contact:

Head of Tolerance Centre of VGSJM and Samuel Bak Museum

Tel.: 8 612 60 339; e-mail: ievasadzeviciene@jmuseum.lt