Old Testament collection

A painting series by Tamás Náray - 2020

The Old Testament - the first part of the Christian biblical canon - is in fact the TANAKH, that is, the Hebrew Bible; the holy book of Judaism. The Hebrew Bible is identical to the Old Testament of the protestant churches in terms of content, the only difference being the order of events. The name ‘TANAKH’ bears no religious reference as it is basically an acronym formed from the initial letters of the three parts of the Hebrew canon: TORAH, which is ‘The Law’, NEVIIM which is ‘The Prophets’ and KETUVIIM which is ‘The Scriptures’.

The Old Testament is the fruition of a whole millennium’s intellectual life and thinking. Not one writing, but a collection of fables, chronicles, laws, prophecies, poems, philosophical and historical scripts. In the center of it there stands one legend that depicts the rise of the people of Israel and their connection to God.

Unlike the other ancient middle-eastern mythologies, like tales of the Egyptian Osiris, Isis, and Horus or the Mezopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, the Old Testament lies on solid, mundane grounds. The universe in which the legend of the Old Testament came to life is not the realm of marvelous cities and sacred heroes, but rather a small province and its people striving to survive amongst hunger, thirst and wars. The history of the Israelites begins with the tale of one family: it is the personal odyssey of Abraham and his wife Sarah, their son Isaac and his wife Rebeka, and their grandson Jacob. All aspects of their ever complicated life can be discovered in the TANAKH, with their betrayals, frauds and all their sins. It’s only after later their miraculous escape of slavery in Egypt, the 40-year sojourn, that is, the wandering in the desert for 40 years and finally reaching Kanaan, that it becomes clear that throughout the years the family transforms to a dynasty, then, to a nation.

This jarring narrative that unfolds in the Old Testament spans back to the creation of the world. To the beginnings of everything, to the origin of time.

The reviews were written by Dr. Szilvia Hájer.

The Genesis

• 140 x 100 cm
  
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
  
• This painting is privately owned

'And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.’

The Beginning of Time

• 120 x 120 cm
  
• Oil gold canvas 
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
  
• This painting is privately owned

When the Holy Bible pronounces ‘In the beginning’, it does not specify a certain time. In this ‘beginning’ only one entity existed: God. According to the Bible, the World is not divine, but rather it only exists out of the sheer will of a god reigning over it. This composition displays not a Biblical instance, it displays the moment of the Big Bang. That decisive moment, when light triumphs over eternal darkness. Deep tones of greens, browns and blues first turn to golden yellow, then blinding white due to the combusting light in the frame. The central composition is symmetrical, showing the abstractions of two arches launching from the middle to the sides and also defining the peaking ‘UP’ and the widening roots of ‘DOWN’. As the artist visually unifies the considered conflict of divine creation, his ‘Old Testament’ period paintings bring to surface the ethereal synthesis of misterium and the science of Genesis.

‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’

The First Day

• 120 x 140 cm
  
• Oil canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• This painting is privately owned

The composition titled ‘The First Day’ is a prophetic vision that enlightens the beginning of The Genesis. From the infinite darkness dominating the upper portion of the frame, a downward reaching, denser and denser bright shape emerges. This energy cone almost explodes into a color spectrum which then floods the infinite space with blinding light. These monumental forms carrying the comfort of primordial forces represent the birth of day and night, that is, the tale of the first day of The Genesis. 

‘And God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day", and the darkness he called "night". And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.’

The Second Day

• 140 x 80 cm
  
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• This painting is privately owned

This composition is divided into four sections: in the background transparent spaces can be sensed, while in the middle there is a gold-encoated, solid mass, forcefully rippling around. The mountain-like backbone highlighted with black consolidates the picture, that disassembles with the emergence of a blue-grey primeval force. Moving up on the frame, the infinite waters are symbolised by a multi-spectrum dark-bluish shade conquering the surface, while the embracing vapor canopy is visualized with paler tones. The astonishingly detailed textures strike an atmospheric tone also, as the ivory and turquoise inserted to the golden fields enlight the almost animated surfaces with a mystical glow.

The Third Day

• 100 x 100 cm
  
• Oil canvas
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• This painting is privately owned

In the painting titled ‘The Third Day’ the duality of The Genesis is portrayed. The accentual darker forms emerging from the veiled background of the tamed and silenced, infinite waters symbolise the birth of land. The color beams reminiscent of nectar and flowers are transforming from the edge of the frame to the dark center. And so the first embellishing work of the creation begins.

‘Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.’

The Fourth Day

• 120 x 120 cm
  
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• The painting is privately owned

The uniqueness of this composition originates from the surface being completely in motion, there are no closed forms. Blasting apart the primeval mass of eternity, the depth opens up and we can witness the birth of the Sun and the beginning of its journey.

‘And God said, "Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth". And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.’

The Fifth Day

• 140 x 100 cm
  
• Oil canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
  
• This painting is privately owned

The playfully bright surfaces lingering in the quadrants enhance the strength of the colors painted in vigorous tones and guide our attention to the more intense parts. The upper left field allows a glimpse of the vortex of multifarious birds, while the bottom right part fills the sea with life with its opalesque colors. The geometry of the frame symbolises the nearly matrix-like arrangement of the creation amidst the chaos.

‘And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky". So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth". And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.’

The Sixth Day

• 120 x 70 cm
  
• Oil canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• The painting is privately owned

The composition titled ‘The Sixth Day’ displays the controversial duality of ‘down’, the roots, and ‘up’, the soaring with a dramatic force. Boiling lava blasts through the middle of the frame while above a figure emerges, raising his hands to the sky. Below, it is like boiling magma, but the pure blueness of air infiltrates its depths, at the same time keeping it alive. The portrayal of this cathartic moment upholds tension around its meaning with an elemental force. The red geometric shape at the top of the frame reflects upon the magma, showing the divine order: as above, so below.

‘And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.’

The Seventh Day

• 140 x 140 cm
  
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
  
• This painting is privately owned

The flow chart of the biblical creation appears this time on the canvas. The seed of all beginnings can be seen here; three flames appear from the infinite blue as a luminous beam of light, which dissolve in the flaming ring of fire as they forge the sacred tri-forces together, fulfilling the holy will. The symbolism of the three great states appears in the composition: First, light gets separated from darkness, then the skies from earth and finally land from water. In the middle, at the center of the golden vortex, soft, veiled streams keep the viewer in a weightless levitation as the previously flowing circulation dissolves in a pearlescent peace, giving birth to eternity of ordained time. As the seventh day is sanctified, the creation is now completed.

‘Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.’

Garden of Eden

• 120 x 100 cm
  
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
  
• This painting is privately owned

This energetic abstraction showcases a grandiose intent to form space; the sparkling at the bottom of the picture immediately enchants everyone. We are in paradise. A marvelous, undisturbed garden stands before us. However, as our eyes ascend, the sparkle fades into more somber tones under the glaring turquoise of the sky. The course of events is known to all: God’s forbiddance and its breach pours the composition with crimson waves: Judgement is formed. However, the colors, the forms and the textures leave the viewer with an uneasy feeling. Why did God plant the corrupted Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden, if he knew the curious behaviour of mankind which he formed to resemble himself? 

‘Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.’

The Temptation

• 160 x 140 cm
  
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• This painting is privately owned

With his abstraction titled ‘Temptation’ the artist explores the antagonistic battle of the sinful temptation of disbelief and true faith. The crimson colors represent the dominance of menace, while faith appears as flowing gold in relatively little amounts compared to the dimensions of the frame, yet still controlling it. The geometrical shapes bear symbolic meanings. The golden triangle and the black rectangle in the middle of the work tells the story of the temptation of Abraham and his triumph of soaring faith while the forms emphasised below stand for the calling of sin and the failure of trials. Red, however, is not just the color of temptation but also love. Moving away from the dark undertones to the sides, a man’s left profile manifests. ‘Does love always have to be temptation either?’, says his expression.

Dead Sea Scrolls - triptych

- TORAH - LAW - Dead Sea Scrolls - TANAKH

- KETUVIIM - SCRIPTURES - Dead Sea Scrolls - TANAKH  

- NEVIIM - PROPHETS - Dead Sea Scrolls - TANAKH 

TORAH - LAW

Dead Sea Scrolls - TANAKH

KETUVIIM - SCRIPTURES

Dead Sea Scrolls - TANAKH  

NEVIIM - PROPHETS

 Dead Sea Scrolls - TANAKH

Exodus

• 100 x 140 cm
  
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• The painting is privately owned

The ‘Exodus’ abstraction is the visual storytelling of one of the most dramatic, yet most beautiful tales of Judaism. On the picture we can follow the symbolic trail of a people broken free from Egyptian slavery, marking the begininnig of their wandering.The billowing dark abyss symbolises death and slavery that swallows all sins left behind with its distant depth. While the divided Red Sea represents the miraculous wisdom of divine providence, the widening streams of hopeful blues and, within, glowing gold islands reminds of the path of the religious: freed from their sins they arrive to the Promised Land.

Prophets I. - II. - III.

• The paintings' dimensions one by one: 57 x 47 cm
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• The paintings are privately owned

The ‘Prophets’ collection is a visual unification of the early, the latter and the 12 minor prophets. The division of the series bears a symbolic meaning; it depicts the three spiritual events of prophecy. The first picture tells about the selection; the second, climatically, about the Prophetic Calling to be in God’s presence and the third shows the prophetic mission.

In the Promised Land

• 100 x 80 cm
  
• oil canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• This painting is privately owned

God swore to himself that he will grant Canaan to Abraham and his descendents. This is where the name ‘Promised Land’ comes from. The meaning of Canaan: Land of Crimson, a land abundant of milk and honey, which later became the symbol of prosperity. Embracing the matrix-like abundance of red, crimson and ruby colors, some darker shades appear in the left side of the frame within the blue representation of the river Jordan, outlining the figure of Moses as a reminder that the Promised Land is indeed a reward for keeping the divine alliance.

Moses Before God

• 40 x 40 cm
  
• Oil canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• This painting is privately owned

The ‘Moses Before God’ is an artistic exclamation of God being present in all good things, an exclamation through which the emotional Biblical scene of the Calling unfolds. The burning bush is depicted by flaming colors, forged together to smooth harmony, and glowing lava-like falls. And from the bush within, a special shape in orange manifests: God reveals himself to Moses. The adventurous story of Moses is told through the meticulously polished details. The blinking blue strands tell the tale of the infant left on the river. The golden and green shades speak of the times spent in the wealthy court of the Pharaoh, while the ominous dark colors describe the suffering and fleeing thereafter. The artwork praises the eternal fire of original and final judgement, the supremacy of divine wisdom.

The Sacred Tabernacle

• 46 x 38 cm
  
• Oil canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• The painting is privately owned

This daringly coloresque artwork titled ‘The Sacred Tabernacle’ presents the sacrality of the Tent of the Congregation through stunning effects of light and dark. It shows items of special importance: the golden altar of incense, the table on which lay the shewbread, and the menorah. In the inner part, highlighted with greenish light, the Ark of the Covenant emerges. The patterns of the composition’s texture mimics the techniques with which the carpets covering the tent were woven. 

14609 Days

• 140 x 120 cm
  
• Oil canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• The painting is privately owned

The work presents the 14609 days of the 40 years’ march in the desert. The rebellious colors of the unexpectedly bold, tempestuously articulated frame tells of long enduring times, of the vicissitudes of wandering, with glooming shades. The blazing reds come apart to seven islands which is a metaphor for the seven tribes revolving around themselves. The luxurious wealth of Egypt appears through turquoise and gold colors, a wealth that on the other hand means oppression for the people. The opalesque tone brings optimism to the horizon for Abraham’s people who, after so many nights and days, finally find shelter on holy grounds.

Book of Deuteronomy

• 46 x 38 cm
  
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• The painting is privately owned

The ‘Book of Deuteronomy’ presents the words of Moses to the people of Israel with a dualistic allegory. At the height of the picture God reveals himself via a turquoise geometric form, embraced by sky blue torrents, as his prophetic messages, hurling curses of bundled dark colors befall onto the disobedients. On the faithful however, showers of gold rain as divine blessing. The other string of thought depicts Josiah, king of Judah, painted with ominous tones, and his barbaric reign which is pierced through by the false glow of idol worshiping along the darkening geometric fields below. The piece was inspired by the story of finding the book of law in Solomon’s temple, the book that ignites the fire of the holy words of Moses with an elemental force. The crimson burning on the painting is not simply fire, but Moses himself.

Solomon's Temple

• 130 x 80 cm
  
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• The painting is privately owned

The painting titled ‘Solomon’s Temple’ showcases one of the most prominent architectural marvels of the Old Testament. Solomon, successor of King David who created the plans, is entrusted with the constructions. The flowing colors merging together, the starlights piercing through the midnight-colored darkness, the salacity of the secluded gardens along the cool streams, and the vigor of untouched nature, they all come to the artist’s aid upon visualizing the legend of the First Temple. Together, the altar blazing in red, the Ark of the Covenant being highlighted in a golden shine, the foundations of the temple standing tall with their auburn arches in the front, they all join to recreate the mysterious atmosphere of the sanctuary.

Jeremiah's Prophecy

• 100 x 100 cm
  
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• The painting is privately owned

The main motif of ‘Jeremiah's Prophecy’ is the alliance made with God. Within its vertical, closely attached, crowded color streams dominating the frame, the city of Jerusalem flickers in gold, showing sinister glow which brings darkening, self-destructive misery upon the people. The Jewish city having violated God’s laws, fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah and, as consequence, the punishment was the Babylonian captivity. However, we can also see the alliance of Jeremiah and God in the form of turquoise and crimson again. While the former’s pureness speaks of the Prophetic Mission and the knowledge of truth, the latter stands for the Prophetic Sacrifice, which governs Jeremiah, after much pain and suffering, to fulfill his mission.

Vision of Ezekiel - diptych

• 2 x 90 x 60 cm (diptych)
  
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
  
• This painting is privately owned

Prophet Ezekiel was gifted with great visions by the Almighty, an ability only possessed by a few. These visions were channeling holy promises of divine order to those who served God. The leading number of the painting is 4. In one interpretation the infinite space is unfolded by four radial binders, referring to the four visions of Ezekiel. In another, it is the appearance of the celestial chariot soaring through the mysteriously light air, with four cherubims amongst falling blueish flashes. Or it could be the Holy Ghost arriving from the four corners of the Earth to the Valley of Dry Bones to resurrect the dead. The painting radiates with an ethereal atmosphere, showing how a supernatural vision can be interpreted in many ways.

The Second Temple

• 120 x 120 cm
  
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• The painting is privately owned

The essence of ‘The Second Temple’ spans from the airy unity of the self-determined group of geometric forms. The gold-embraced stones with beautifully crafted surfaces, fitted close to each other, keep the composition in a tight formation, behind which the universe orbits with reassuringly warm tones. Rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem, the Second Temple, is associated with Zerubbabel. The temple itself consists of two areas, a smaller and a larger:  the sanctuary and the Holy of Holies, which are separated by a dark, heavy tapestry. In the middle of the Temple Court stood the Altar of Burnt Offerings. The crimson square shape appears in many of the artist’s works. On this piece however, the true meaning of this comprehensive motif finally comes to light: the altar. The enormous copper brown disk, yet again, projects triple symbolic meaning: on one hand it resembles Solomon, on the other it summons the copper gates of ‘The Way, The Truth and The Life’ and finally it predicts the appearance of Jesus, who said: ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again’.

Nemesis

• 140 x 160 cm
  
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• The painting is privately owned

The main theme of ‘Nemesis’ revolves around a demanding God’s indispensable judgement. The background’s golden texture stands for King Solomon’s blissful reign. The undefined shape filling the foreground is a memento of the succeeding kings’ chaotic leadership; the blurred lines between good and evil can be seen and sensed throughout the frame. With its edges scorched with rust, the crumbling silver form is a warning for Elijah’s judgement; drought. The sky will be bronze, and the earth will be iron as per God’s will. The burning sacrifice of Elijah, which carries the strict presence of God, is looming in the abstraction with red.

Ten

• 80 x 100 cm
  
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• The painting is privately owned

The composition titled ‘Ten’ divides the frame to two segments. One is the smooth, untouched, idyllic, gold-embraced area, conveying the pure state that is the result of divine creation. To the left, from the bottom of the frame, ominous, threatening forces lurk towards the peaceful golden area protected by green and blue lines. To maintain the created world’s tranquility, God declares his declarations. Moses receives the Ten Commandments that manifest in colorful shapes unfolding from each other. The colors bear great importance: the black states ‘I am the Lord, thy God’, the brown continues ‘thou shalt have no other gods before me’. The cosmic blue, soaked in crimson claims: ‘thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image’, the clotted blood color suggests: ‘thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain’. The blue reminds to remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy, the white warns to ‘honour thy father and thy mother’, the glowing orange orders that ‘thou shalt not steal’, the clay shade that ‘thou shalt not murder’, the pink that ‘thou shalt not commit adultery and covet thy neighbour's house and wife’ and finally the purple that ‘thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour’.

"... And God Blessed the Earth"

• 120 x 120 cm
  
• Oil gold preprinted canvas - MediaMix
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• This artwork is privately owned

This artwork titled ‘...And God Blessed the Earth’, with its dynamic color palette, is a revelation conceived in a special mood. The intertwining sparkle of colors blasting out of the darkness compose a perfect unity, symbolising the entirety of the seven days of creation. The golden figure shining through the wealth of vertical lines echoes sacred words across the frame.

The Story of Forever

• 100 x 100 cm
  
• Oil canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• The painting is privately owned

The abstraction marks the eternal sacrality of earthly bonds as source of inspiration for the artistic imagination.To become a father, a son, a partner, to accept the Prophetic Calling, these are alliances made before God. The observer is almost levitating with the ethereal scenery while at the same time keeping his roots steady in the ground of reality. The dark, horizontal stream of color serves as the backbone of the picture, symbolising transient life on Earth, where these alliances are formed, then promoted to unfold in the afterlife. Red, graceful forms spread out with lyrical waves and then rise up within the embrace of blues. At the bottom of the frame the white belt stands for the divine grace and its supportive force, which glows through the whole piece.

"...So We Will Live Here"

• 100 x 100 cm
  
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• The painting is privately owned

With the ‘...So We Will Live Here’ piece, we’ll leave the realms of the Old Testament and step into the 21st century. The title of the work foretells the atmosphere unfolding in front of us in the aesthetics of the image. The main motif is the two shapes collided in the middle, forming a figure from the profile. Strong and wise. The red square he is standing on means to be the altar of faith, sacrifice and life. The roots, the handhold and the security. The dramatically highlighted black beams almost pierce through the harmony of cheerful colors, that also embraces the halo above the figure. From the shadow-struck segment on the right, filled with promises of beauty and happiness, we step into the light, turning our backs to the dark, just to find ourselves between an energized, glowing space and a calm, pastell harmony of safety. In the end, the divine providence will carry us home.

Stereotypes - diptych

• 2 x 90 x 60 cm (diptych)
  
• Oil gold canvas
  
• Place and date of creation: Sitges, 2020
• The painting is privately owned

This diptych called ‘Stereotypes’ presents yet again a dualistic theme. We are after the creation of man and woman, in the 21st century. The color usage is indeed meaningful. A multitude of blue and pink shades surface in the picture in a matrix-like, vertical and horizontal manner, bringing back memories of ‘The Sixth Day’ piece regarding its topic of creating mankind and its techniques of paint and brush handling. While in the blue frame tones of blue prevail, there is a high concentration of pink as well and vice versa. One person is from the other. We can almost imagine setting the ratio of the colors on a spectrometer in one frame and the other. This is how it becomes unequivocal, just like the frame itself, made of gold, and just like life itself...