Who is Zdzisław Beksiński?

One of the most unique artists I've come across, you're in for a ride.

Background

Zdzisław Beksiński is a polish painter who has made a great impact on surrealism and dark dystopian art. He was also interested in photography in the beginning of his career however he turned to painting due to photography's limitations and I dont blame him. Someone with as vivid of an imagination as him would only be satisfied with painting his visions from scratch.

His paintings and art in general can be divided into several periods and genres, the paintings you'll find here are all from his so-called "fantastic" series in the late 1960s which consisted of very detailed, nightmarish surrealistic environments usually containing death and decay.

The art

Creepy, disturbing, surreal, ominous are all adjectives that could be used to describe Beksiński's art but no adjective actually does it justice. "I wish to paint in such a manner as if I were photographing dreams" is the way he likes to put it. I would not want to have dreams that look like this.

Artworks depicting bones, skeletons, and bodies are sometimes attributed to his life having survived and witnessed the tragedies of World War 2 however he himself claimed that even he did not know the meaning of his artworks and was uninterested in possible interpretations. Which brings us to another interesting point.

None of his paintings are titled.

Beksiński believed that his art should be looked at, not explained. To the extent that he saw no point in providing a title for any piece he paints.

"Interpretation is imposed by others. Paintings are to be admired or contemplated. Admired without asking what it means. If I had something to say I would write it down or say it. I don't need painting for that"

And for someone like me who struggles with describing and explaining why I like certain art when I look at it, I can't help but appreciate his views regarding this matter. Art is to be viewed and felt, it doesn't always have to involve symbolism, deeper meanings, etc.

But in an effort to impose my own interpretation, I will say this; Beksiński's art is raw. It was not sugar coated for what people wanted to see at the time. It is what he wanted to paint and it is beautifully dark and twisted.

Color

As you may have noticed, his use of vibrant color is pretty much non existent and he enjoys his toned down earthy colors.

"Less intense earthy semitones result in greater number of colours because each of those dirty colors contains a whole range of other pure colors mixed together. So I feel that a painting is richer when the color is presented in a not so intrusive nor obvious way."

Learning more about why artists used certain palettes is super interesting. Makes me realize certain things that I never would've noticed before and Beksiński's is a great example of that. A piece you might think is dull at first glance turns into this rich, detailed masterpiece the more you look at it.

Conclusion

Excited to find out more about all of the other unique surrealism artists out there but Zdzisław Beksiński was definitely one of the best ones to get introduced to. Check out his collection of work.