Zdzisław Beckinski - the master of gloomy doom

Poland is historically known as the birthplace of great scientists and the cradle of scientific discoveries; Historians and art historians have undeservedly lost their attention to the formation of the fine art of Poland. This is easily explained by the fact that in the Renaissance, as well as at the time when such artistic trends as Impressionism, Modern and Dadaism developed in Europe, which in turn generated many other styles, Poland found itself on the periphery of the world of art. Nevertheless, the twentieth century became the flourishing of the cultural life of this state, and the Polish artist Z. Beckinsky, who became almost an icon of post-apocalyptic, is proof of this.

Zdzisław Beckinski: Biography and Creative Becoming

The artist was born on February 24, 1929 in Sanok, a small Polish town where he spent his childhood. In 1955, after completing his training in the architectural craft in Krakow, he returned to his hometown, where he began to work as a foreman at the construction site. Hateful work prompted the future artist to search for ways of creative self-realization: it was during this period that Beksinsky is fond of photography, painting and sculpture from plaster and wire. Even then, the main characteristic features of the artistic manner that filled all the pictures of Zdislav Beksinski were revealed: attention to the smallest details and details, the depiction of hilly surfaces, wrinkled faces distorted by suffering, as well as the metaphorical projection of an individual experience on canvas or in a sculptural form. The imagery is gloomy - broken figures, disfigured and faceless dolls, dried up landscapes.

The development of Zdislaw Beckinski as a painter

The first paintings of the artist, despite the presence of clear forms and images, gravitated toward abstract art, but this period was not long. In the sixties, Beckinsky is imbued with one of the main principles of surrealism - trust in his dreams and turning them into the main source of creative inspiration. Nevertheless, the artist's quest was not stopped by surrealism, no matter how fertile was his soil for the embodiment of the most painful and secret phantasmagoria. Until the end of the eighties in the works of Beckinski comes a "fantastic" period. It was then that the most recognizable images were created, inscribed in the canvas of post-apocalyptic reality: all-consuming decay, death and chaos reign on the artist's canvases. Virtually all the paintings of this period are written on large canvases, which makes the viewer even more impressed: the picturesque space practically absorbs and drags inwards.

By the chronological end of the "fantastic" period of the artist's work became more ascetic technically - many details disappeared, the color spectrum became almost monochrome, which, however, did not affect the expressive power of the canvases. Some time later, Zdzislaw Beksinski mastered the principles and features of various techniques of computer graphics and worked with various graphics programs almost to the end of his days.

The artist himself divided his creative style into two types: the Baroque style, in which the detailing and imagery saturation prevails, and the Gothic, where special attention is paid to form. It is easy to guess that Gothic stylistics prevailed in recent works.

Another unusual feature was given by Zdislav Beksinski: there are no pictures with names in his creative heritage. He never gave names to his canvases, allowing the viewer to dive deep into the gloomy world and reflect on the individual experience gained from the experience of his contemplation.

Recognition and world fame

The originality and stylistic uniqueness of the artist earned him worldwide recognition. The debut exhibition in Warsaw was held in 1964, bringing the artist not only glory, but also material success - all the pictures were sold out.

A little later, in the eighties, Zdislav Beckinski became popular in Western Europe, the United States and Japan.

However, despite the success and recognition of the public, he did not lose critical attitude to his work: at the end of the seventies, on the eve of moving to Warsaw and the heyday of exhibition activity, the artist destroyed many canvases, explaining that he found them unsatisfactory and less expressive.

The world of inner experiences Zdislav Beksinski

It is still unknown, under the influence of what passions and emotions were born the artist's genius paintings, saturated with the aesthetics of pain, horror and absurdist madness, peculiar to the same extent only compatriot of Beksinsky - writer Sigismund Krzhizhanovsky.

Friends and friends of the artist noted his benevolence and cheerful disposition, himself, Beksinsky found some of his works "funny." However, it is known for certain that, despite his mild character, he did not shy away from the philosophy and tendencies of sadomasochism - he mentioned this in letters, and also devoted a series of graphic works to this topic.

However, in the late nineties the artist experienced difficult times: in 1998 his wife Sophia died from illness, and a year later, son Tomash, a well-known music writer, committed suicide. Beckinski never managed to come to terms with this loss.

Death of the Creator

The artist tragically died at the age of 75 on February 22, 2005 - was killed by teenagers, whom he refused to borrow money. His body, with traces of numerous stab wounds, was found in a Warsaw apartment.

The great picturesque and graphic heritage of Zdislav Beksinski is still an artistic treasure of both Poland and the whole world; Copies of his paintings are often used as covers for albums of metal bands, as well as Polish editions of the albums of the industrial formation The Legendary Pink Dots were decorated with their use after the death of Tomasz Beckinski, who was their admirer.