“I wish to paint in such a manner as if I were photographing dreams.”

Zdzisław Beksiński was one of the most visionary surrealists in the 20th century. He lived in Europe during World War II and the Holocaust, which must have inspired many of his paintings.

Beksiński’s last years were not the best. In the late 1990′s his wife died, and the following year his son committed suicide, which he was never able to fully accept. Several years later he was stabbed to death in his flat in Warsaw. By the time these hardships occurred, he was mostly involved in graphic art.

There is another artist with a very similar style by the name of Dariusz Zawadzki. Some have compared Beksiński to H.R. Giger, which I can see (especially the bones), however Giger’s work is more in the bio-mechanical realm.

He was not interested in finding interpretations for his paintings. He rarely gave them titles, and admitted that even he did not know the true meaning of his work. He always listened to classical music while painting.

To view the gallery with 40+ paintings, go here: http://novelthought.org/zdzislaw-beksinski-gallery/