Zdzislaw Beksinski: Inside The Life & Art of an Iconic Surrealist Painter

Inside The Life of Zdzislaw Beksinski

Born on the 24th of February 1929 in Sanok, Southern Poland, Zdzislaw Beksinski became known  as an iconic cornerstone of contemporary dark surrealism paintings, a genre that has become widely known in the modern era as ‘horror art.’

Beksinski studied architecture at Krakow Polytechnic from 1947-1952 before moving back to Sanok to work as a supervisor at a construction site. During this period in his life, Beksinski came to the quick realisation that he found no enjoyment in his job, and instead turned his interest towards sculpting, photography, and what he would become best known for; painting.

Beksinski has been widely considered one of the world's most iconic surrealist painters.

His earliest sculptures were crafted from materials he would scavenge from the construction sites he worked on, while gravitating towards abstract painting in the late 1950’s, and then surrealism in the 1960s onwards.

As a self-taught artist, his paintings were crafted using oil paint on board panels he made himself,  listening to classical music to inspire him as he painted.

Beksinski found his first taste of success in 1964 via an exhibition of his works, organised by Janusz Bogucki in Warsaw. Beksinski would later refer to the paintings he made between the 1960’s until the 1980’s as his “fantastic period” of art. This fantastic period included many of his most iconic surrealism paintings, including scenes of gruesome death, decay, disturbing landscapes, demons, skeletons, and much more following along a theme of disturbed, albeit grim, work.

While the paintings are known for their dark twisted overtones, Beksinski has always claimed his work was misunderstood, and in fact they were “optimistic”, at times even “humorous.” These misunderstandings around the nature of his art would lead Beksinski to refuse to title his artworks or provide any interpretations for the public to understand. At one point before moving to Warsaw, Poland in 1977, he famously destroyed a several of his artworks in his backyard, with no reference or documentation of any of the destroyed work.

“Meaning is meaningless to me. I do not care for symbolism and I paint what I paint without meditating on a story.” - Beksinski

Tragically, at the end of 1998, Beksinski’s wife Zofia died, followed a year later by his son Tomasz. Sixteen years later Beksinski himself would be found stabbed to death in his Warsaw home by his caretakers son, allegedly over Beksinski refusing to loan the man money.

The Art: Inside The Hellscapes of Zdzislaw Beksinski

The beauty of Beksinski’s refusal to explain his artworks is that it allows each of us to draw our own meanings, symbolism, and interpretation of what we see. A few quick searches on social media, website forums, and blogs will lead you down rabbit holes of theories and ideas strangers all around the world have drawn from his art, deconstructing his work through the lens of their own perception.

While some critics make note of Beksinski discouraging anyone from finding meaning, the joy of art lovers around the world can be found in the way they relate these brutal hellish paintings to their own feelings centring around emotions like anxiety, love, hate, pain, distrust, and fear, among others.