Zdzisaw Beksiski

Zdzisaw Beksiski (24 February 1929 22 February 2005) was a renowned Polish
painter, photographer, and fantasy artist
!e was born in the town of "ano# in southern Poland $fter studying ar%hite%ture in
&ra#'w, he returned to "ano# in 1955 "ubse(uent to this edu%ation he spent se)eral
years as a %on*stru%tion site super)isor, a +ob he hated $t that ti*e he be%a*e interested
in artisti% photography and photo*ontage, s%ulpture and painting !e *ade his s%ulptures
of plaster, *etal, and wire !is photography offered a taste of things to %o*e in his future
paintings, presenting wrin#led fa%es, lands%apes, ob+e%ts with a )ery bu*py te-ture
whi%h he atte*pted to e*phasise, espe%ially by *anipulating lights and shadows !is
photography also depi%ted disturbing i*ages, su%h as a *utilated baby doll with its fa%e
torn off, portraits of people without fa%es or with their fa%es wrapped in bandages
.ater, he %on%entrated on painting !is first paintings were abstar%t art, but throughout
the si-ties he *ade his surrealist inspirations *ore )isible /n the 1900s he entered what
he hi*self %alled his 1fantasti% period1, whi%h lasted up to the late 1920s 3his is his best
#nown period, during whi%h he %reated )ery disturbing i*ages, showing a surrealisti%,
post4apo%alypti% en)iron*ent with )ery detailed s%enes of death, de%ay, lands%apes filled
with s#eletons, defor*ed figures, deserts, all )ery detailed, painted with his trade*ar#
pre%ision, parti%ularly when it %a*e to rough, bu*py surfa%es !is highly detailed
drawings are often (uite large, and *ay re*ind so*e of the wor#s of 5rnst Fu%hs in their
intri%ate, and nearly obsessi)e rendering 6espite the gri* o)ertones, he %lai*ed so*e of
these paintings were *isunderstood, as they were rather opti*isti%, or e)en hu*ouristi%
!is e-hibitions al*ost always pro)ed )ery su%%essful $ prestigious e-hibition in 7arsaw
in 1984 pro)ed to be his first *a+or su%%ess, as all his paintings were sold /n the 1920s
his wor#s gained on popularity in Fran%e due to the endea)ours of Piotr 6*o%hows#i,
and he gained signifi%ant popularity in 7estern 5urope, the 9"$ and :apan
;e#si<s#i e)entually threw hi*self into painting with a passion, and wor#ed %onstantly,
always to the strains of %lassi%al *usi% !e soon be%a*e the leading figure in
%onte*porary Polish art
;efore *o)ing to 7arsaw in 1900 he burned a sele%tion of his wor#s in his own
ba%#yard, without lea)ing any do%u*entation on the* !e later %lai*ed that so*e of
those wor#s were 1too personal1, while others were unsatisfa%tory, and he didn=t want
people to see the* 3he 1920s *ar#ed a transitory period for ;e#si<s#i !is art in the
early 1990s %onsisted *ainly of a series of surreal portraits and a series of %rosses
Paintings in these series were *u%h less la)ish than those #nown fro* his 1fantasti%
period1, but +ust as powerful /n the latter part of the 1990s he dis%o)ered %o*puters, the
internet, and digital photography, on whi%h he fo%used on until his death
;e#si<s#i always e-e%uted his paintings and drawings in either of two *anners, whi%h he
respe%ti)ely %alls =;aro(ue= and =>othi%= 3he first is do*inated by representation, the
se%ond by for* $*ong the paintings produ%ed during the past fi)e years, those e-e%uted
in the =>othi%= *anner ha)e be%o*e *ore and *ore fre(uent, so *u%h so that pi%tures in
the other style ha)e al*ost disappeared
3he late 1990s were a )ery trying ti*e for ;e#si<s#i !is wife, ?ofia, died in 1992, and a
year later, on @hrist*as 5)e 1999, his son 3o*asA (a popular radio presenter, *usi%
+ournalist and *o)ie translator) %o**itted sui%ide /t was ;e#si<s#i who dis%o)ered his
son=s body 9nable to %o*e to ter*s with his son=s death, he #ept an en)elope 1For
3o*e# in %ase / #i%# the bu%#et1 pinned to his wall
/n 200B his offi%ial site was designed by &ubi%#i and friends and was open in 7arsaw by
;e#si<s#i=s friend, agent Cr Dalde*ar E Plusa who loo#s after the site and owns
;el)edere >allery presenting ;e#si<s#i=s 7or# and selling )arious art pie%es related to
!is $rt
Fn 22 February 2005 he was found dead in his flat in 7arsaw with 10 stab wounds on his
body, two of whi%h were fatal 3he teenage son of his long ti*e %areta#er, who later
plead guilty, and a friend were arrested shortly after the %ri*e /t is #nown that ;e#si<s#i
had re%ently refused a loan to the young *an
?dAislaw ;e#sins#i had %onta%t with *any artists, but the only person he taught was
$drian &edAia, an artist who ne)er be%a*e fa*ous and stopped painting due to )ision
proble*s
Trivia
;e#si<s#i=s art was gloo*y and gri*, though he hi*self was #nown to be a
pleasant person, and though so*ewhat shy, too# en+oy*ent fro* %on)ersation
!e ne)er ga)e titles to his wor#s
!e painted his paintings on boards whi%h he personally prepared
!e listened to %lassi%al *usi% while painting and abhorred silen%e
!is son was a great fan of the band 3he .egendary Pin# 6ots $fter his son=s
sui%ide the bands albu*s= Polish editions and reissues were gra%ed by ;e#si<#i=s
digital art e*ployed as %o)ers, dedi%ated to the *e*ory of 3o*asA ;e#si<s#i
!e is the only *odern Polish artist to ha)e had an e-hibition in the Fsa#a
Cuseu* of $rt in :apan
!e al*ost ne)er )isited *useu*s or e-hibitions
Sources
>ryglewi%A, 3o*asAG Beksiski ;osA $rt 1999
>aAeta 7ybor%Aa, an inter)iew with ?dAisHaw ;e#si<s#i
External links
httpGIIwww;e#sins#iplI Fffi%ial website
httpGIIwww;e#sins#iplI*asterlistht*
httpGIIwwwbel)ederegallery%o*I;e-
httpGIIwwwgnosisartplIilu*inatorniaIsAtu#aJoJinspira%+iIAdAislawJbe#sins#iIAd
AislawJbe#sins#iht* >allery
httpGIIwwwpolishartgallery%o*Ie-hibitionIwel%o*eht* ;iographies and
analysis of his wor#
Biography
True to the image of his work, Beksinski is a secluded
man. e does not a!!ear in !u"lic, and does not exhi"it his
!aintings. #hen museums or collectors exhi"it them he does
not show u!. e works on his !aintings twelve hours a da$
against a "ackground of classical music. The$ are alwa$s
!ainted on hard"oard, signed on the "ack, and the$ "ear no
titles.
e was "orn on %e"ruar$ &'th ()&) in Sanok, a small town
near the south*east "order of +oland. is father was a
surve$or, his grand* father a "uilding contractor, and his
great*grandfather ,athieu, an insurgent of (-.), was the
founder of a wagon factor$. /nder the 0erman 1ccu!ation
Beksinski continued his studies at a secondar$ level, first
in a school of commerce, then in a clandestine highschool. 2n
()'3, after the 4i"eration, he entered the %acult$ of
5rchitecture in the ,ines and Steelworks 5cadem$ in 6racow
under !ressure from his father. 2n ()7( he married ,iss
So!hie Stankiewicz, and in ()7& he o"tained his degree in
architecture. 8ue to the o"ligation of work which was at that
time im!osed on $oung graduates, he started working in a
State "uilding enter!rise where he su!ervised the "uilding
lots.
5lthough he had "een drawing since his earl$ childhood,
he a!!lied himself to it seriousl$ in ()7). e also
concentrated on !aint* ing, !hotogra!h$ and scul!ture, and
thus !re!ared his wa$ out of a !rofession which he disliked.
2n ()7- his onl$ child, Thomas, was "orn.
2n the same $ear his first exhi"ition of !lastic
works, and es!ecial* l$ a"stract relief, was held in +oznan.
5t that time he was still a mem"er of the /nion of +olish
5rtist*+hotogra!hers and he took !art in numerous exhi"itions
of !hotogra!h$ in +oland and a"road.
2n ().9: he a"andoned !hotogra!h$ and in his !lastic
works "roke awa$ from the avant*garde. This "reak was felt "$
some as an act of treason, since his earl$ creation had
aroused much ho!e among the !artisans of a"stract art. But it
was also this ste! towards fantas$ ex!ressionism, noted
during the exhi"ition of ()3& organized "$ ,r. and ,rs.
Bogucki in the ;6ontem!orar$; galler$ in #arsaw, that was to
make him known to a wider !u"lic. The !olemic aroused "$ his
!ainting reached its climax in ()37 when after a !oll
organised "$ art critics he was declared ;the "est !ainter in
the thirt$ $ears of the +eo!le9s <e!u"lic of +oland; thanks
to the votes of certain !artici!ants who gave him almost all
their !oints, while others refused to give him even one...
ln ()33 he left Sanok and moved to #arsaw onl$ to isolate
himself from the world even more radicall$ "ecause of the
inconvenience arising from the cele"rit$ he now had in his
home town. #hen he moved into the +olish ca!ital he ho!ed to
mingle in the anon$mous crowds of a "ig metro!olis. 8es!ite
the curiosit$ he arouses, he refuses to take !art in an$
manifestations and acce!ts neither awards nor medals. e has
!racticall$ ceased to exhi"it, receives onl$ one or two
=ournalists a $ear, when he grants them an interview which
does not touch u!on current events.
5 charismatic !ersonalit$ and a man with a !rofound
s!irit, Beksinski has never left +oland, doesn9t s!eak an$
foreign language and has never "een a mem"er of an$
ideological grou!> he hates and des!ises !olitics.
"$ +iotr 8mochowski
2ntroduction
"$ +iotr 8mochowski
5s he ex!lained in a text re!roduced in our !revious
"ook, Beksinski has alwa$s executed his !aintings and
drawings in either of two manners, which he res!ectivel$
calls 9Baro?ue9 and 90othic9. The first is dominated "$
re!resentation, the second "$ form.
5mong the !aintings !roduced during the !ast five $ears,
those executed in the 90othic9 manner have "ecome more and
more fre?uent, so much so that !ictures in the other st$le
have almost disa!!eared.
Those light*filled landsca!es, those figures drawn with
extra* ordinar$ !recision, those dis?uieting "uildings are
increasingl$ a"sent from Beksinski9s work. 2nstead, sim!le
contours of human silhouettes, or faces filled with m$riad
fragment of matter in closel$* graded colours. The
"ackgrounds are for the most !art flat> nothing lies "ehind
the silhouettes and faces, %rom the void the$ come and into
it, scarcel$ identifia"le, the$ instantl$ dissolve. These
works are stark in the extreme and are in small format. 4ike
the low*reliefs executed "$ the artist from ()7- to ().:, and
his earl$ drawings, the$ are almost a"stract.
The second "ook we are devoting to him testifies to this.
#e have incor!orated two innovations, which com!lement
our first work !u"lished three $ears ago@
%irst, we thought it would "e useful to show the
different stages involved in the creation of a !ainting. 2n
fact, when we saw the video showing the results of
Beksinski9s dail$ work, recorded "$ the artist himself, we
were amazed to see that during the first week nothing was
ha!!ening on the hard"oard ever$thing seemed vague. 1nce
the artist finall$ hit on an idea, that !art of the work
which, to a la$man, would a!!ear the most tedious and
difficult was executed in the s!ace of a single da$ as if it
was =ust some minor detail.
/nfortunatel$, Beksinski is inca!a"le of !ainting if
an$one is watching, which is wh$ he has never agreed to allow
the different stages of his !ainting to "e !hotogra!hed at
the end of each working da$ or ever$ time he changes his
mind. So all we can get from him are his own video
recordings, from which we !roduce !rinted re!roductions,
whence their rather !oor technical ?ualit$.
The second innovation we decided to incor!orate into this
new "ook consists in showing the highl$ individual creative
!rocess involved in Beksinski9s latest drawings. 5round a
fixed element, which is re!eated in each drawing, the artist
constructs a series of variants "$ adding more elements or
removing others. ere again, we are a"le to o"serve the
stages in the "irth of a drawing, the artist9s moments of
hesitation, the variants of a !articular fragment, until the
work is finall$ com!leted.
#e have "ut one aim in mind in introducing these new ex*
!lanator$ methods@ namel$ to make the reader aware that the
artist9s hesitations and searchings during the creative
!rocess stem essentiall$ from considerations of form and
techni?ue. This is what o!!onents of Beksinski9s work refused
to understand when he was still almost exclusivel$ !ainting
9Baro?ue9 !ictures. Even then he never dreamt of ex!ressing
an$ !articular message, an$ general idea or an$ s$m"ol, as
his detractors ke!t insisting. Even then, the onl$ thing that
mattered was 9how it would "e !ainted9. But each !ainting
a!!eared to "e so heavil$ overlaid with re!resentation that
it has not "een eas$ for us, as a !ro!agator of his art
demonstrate the artist9s intention.
B$ showing Beksinski9s new !aintings and drawings, in
themselves near*a"stract, and "$ illustrating the successive
stages in their creation in this "ook, we ho!e to !ut an end
to all these re!roaches a"out ideolog$, hidden messages and
literar$ inte!reta* tion and to demonstrate that this
extraordinar$ art lies far "e$ond meaning.
BEAS2BSAC9S 5/T1+SC61TE<5+2ES
"$ Tadeusz B$czek
#hen Dames Do$ce9s 9/l$sses9 was !u"lished in ()&&, one
critic made a statement that has gone down in histor$@ that
after this "ook, no one would ever "e a"le to write a sim!le
realist novel again. #hich would im!l$ that there are certain
revolutions that rule out an$ retrograde movement. 5fter
6o!ernicus9 discover$ that the earth was round, did the flat*
earth theor$ not com!letel$ lose its validit$E 2t might have
seemed, then, that literature was afflicted with the same "an
on the retrograde, since the discover$ of Do$ce threw the
ver$ sense of the survival of conventional !rose into ?ues*
tion. The old form, finding itself disowned, would never "e
"orn again.
There was a similar attitude to !ainting. 5fter the
im!ressionists, who could ever have imagined that classical
!ainting could still have its followersE Bo one, surel$, and
even 2ess so once the art world had ex!erienced a"stract art,
surrealism, !o! art and conce!tual . art. %or followers of
the revolution in form, the calling into gues* tion of &:th*
centur$ art for"ade an$ return to the !ast. ,onet and
,ondrian could never "e succeeded "$ a ,oreau or a 6our"et.
5nd after +icasso, how could an$ artist tr$ to !aint like
Bocklin.
But where art is concerned, nothing is im!ossi"le. 2n
art, 6o!ernicus and +tolem$ can "oth "e right. 2n, art the
earth can "e round and flat at the same time, "ecause in this
uni?ue world of artistic creation, true freedom of choice
reigns su!reme. 5 close look at the histor$ of &:th*centur$
!ainting is enough to convince us. Even toda$, as we a!!roach
the turn of the centur$, there9s room at once for ,oneran
Salvador 8ali and 5rnold Bocklin. There9s a !lace for Aieffer
and Bacon, #arhol and Balthus, Beu$s and Ti"or 6sernus.
So are we living = in an age of electicisrnE ,a$"e we
are. But in an$ case this also means that the artistic
revolution of the late ()th to the earl$ &:th centur$, from
Seurat to ,ir., is =ust one choice among man$. Even after
,alevitch9s "lack s?uare there9s still nothing wrong with
!ainting sunflowers...
Beksinski is !roof !ositive of this@ it is still !ossi"le
to marr$ water with fire, tradition with modernit$. is own
ex!erience as a !ainter should "e a lesson in humilit$ for
those doctrinaires for whom 9"eing faithful to form9 is
nothing more their a craven o"edience to current fashion. 5nd
this cannot "e !ut down sim!l$ to the fact that Beksinski
started out thirt$*six $ears ago as a !hotogra!her 1r, after
his !hotogra!h$ !eriod F().7* ()GH, to Beksinski9s work on
scul!tured reliefs F()-&H. 1r again, to the re!utation he
gained as a gra!hic artist during the $ears that followed.
1r, finall$, to the fact that it took several $ears for the
world to realize that here, indeed, was e !ainter of immense
stature.
This is how an artist9s*career unfolds, stage "$ stage.
This is the wa$ new forms and new coIventions are ex!lored.
Beksinski was trained as !n architect. is first fora$s
into !lastic art are conse?uentl$ marked "$ a certain
!rudence, as if he felt the$ might overste! the norms and
categories 9in force9 at the time.
Beksinski confirms this himself@ it9s true Fand there is
no reason to dou"t what he sa$sH that his contacts with the
art world of the fifties were, to all intents and !ur!oses,
non*existent. The$ are still !racticall$ nil toda$ and are
limited to meetings with his closest friends. But, for +olish
!ainting, the fifties were a time rich in ferments. 5fter
Stalinism, which s!awned socialist realism, creative artists
sought to distance themselves from the rigid forms of
naturalism. Stalin9s death and the !oliticall$*motivated
revelations made "$ Ahrushchev a"out Stalinist
totalitarianism gave rise to a short*lived "reach in Euro!ean
frontiers and at last gave +olish ar* tists a glim!se of 9new
horizons9.
5nd on these new Euro!ean and 5merican horizons, +olish
artists encountered, a"ove all, the avant*garde. 5"stract
art, informal art and Fto a certain extentH tachisme reigned
su!reme. The different genres went into the melting*!ot and
ver$ soon ever$ tradition was denied@ the work of art itself
and hence the !ainting, the drawing, and the scul!ture !er
se. 5ll manner of h$"rid genres were s!awned, and with them
kinetic and o! art. 4i"erated, the artistic act was no longer
de!endent on an$thing, and the outside world ceased to serve
even as a !retext. 5rt was living through an era of
narcissism and was as self*sufficient in ideolog$ as it was
in forms and sources of ins!iration.
Beksinski or Beksinski at the start of his career, at
least, when he had no direct contact with the artistic life,
attended no ex* hi"itions and did not fraternize with other
artists this Beksinski could not have failed, however, to
"e highl$ attuned to the 9s!irit of the age9. is !hotogra!h$
was therefore of a semi*a"stract nature. The images
re!resented highl$ constructed situations com!ositions
refined in their !erverse sim!licit$. The relief*!ictures
that he had =ust "egun to make Fnot 9to !aint9, "ut =ust 9to
make9H in ()7- were themselves !re!ared from s!eciall$ welded
metals that were su"se?uentl$ a!!lied to a metal or wood
surface. These works dis!la$ an infinite richness of
handling. %rom the contrasts o"tained with the s!eciall$
!re!ared wire, sheetmetal and metal s!linters, s!rang
countless associations of visionar$ effects. ere again, the
artist categoricall$ refused an$ suggestion that he had "een
ins!ired "$ real !henomena or o"=ects. e was o!!osed to
their meta!horical inter!retation. The !ostulate that his art
was inde!endent of all s$m"olism and literal meaning was to
accom!an$ Beksinski throughout all the ensuing creative
$ears.
But a fatal misunderstanding was to arise "etween the
artist9s intentions and how the !u"lic !erceived his work.
%or Beksinski was to transform the form of his art> more
!recisel$, he was to modif$ his !hiloso!h$ of the work of
art. e discovered that he felt much closer to ()th*centur$
!ainters Fand writers and musi* cians tooH than to those of
the &:th centur$, and that his s!iritual tem!erament and his
imagination were far more at home in tradi* tion than in
denial of tradition. So it was no longer +ollock and <othko,
<auschen"erg and artung, "ut Bocklin and %riedrich, Turner
and*Alimt to whom he felt closest.
5ll the same, Beksinski9s uni?ue character does not
reside in the fact that for twent$ $ears he has "een !ainting
at least as well as, if not "etter than these artists. #hat
is uni?ue a"out him is that he re=ected ever$ artistic
ideolog$ !rogrammed "$ them, and that in !lace of ideologies
he introduced the conscience of man in the second half of the
&.th centur$, com!lete with all his existential and
intellectual ex!eriences.
So those who see, in the 9old*st$le9 !ainting of
Beksinski, the resurrection of a long*dead tradition, are
much mistaken. 5lthough we are living in an age where
ever$thing is !ossi"le hanging a chair from an electric
wire is =ust as !ermissi"le as !ainting a "unch of daffodils
against a $ellow "ackground Beksinski is no &:th* centur$
Turner or %riedrich. e is neither a s$m"olist nor a
surrealist. Even less is he a realist or a !ainter of
fantas$. Bineteenth*centur$ !aintingJad its own ideolog$@ the
m$sti?ue of vanitas venitatum9, the miracle of Bature, the
des!air of existence, the horror of living in the shackles of
t$rann$. The !ainter of the time felt that he was !art of the
world he lived in, irres!ective of whether his relation* shi!
with that world was a good or a "ad one. e wanted to modif$
it or at least reflect it in the distorting mirror of his
!aintings.
Beksinski, "$ contrast, lives removed from the world
This*ma$ seem something of a !aradox "ut it is nonetheless
true. 5t most, the world su!!lies him with what he needs to
su"sist on, !lus the o"=ects that ins!ire him@ this is a
hind, this is a seashore... But that9s all. 5nd even these
were su!erfluous to the relief works he executed at the start
of his artistic career.
The, a"stractionism that marked his earl$ creative
$ears turned out to "e an unforgetta"le ex!erience for him.
1nl$ the tangling of wires has "ecome that of the veins on a
human "od$. The "ackground light that shines trans!arent
through the la$ers of low* relief is transformed into the
light shining from the windows of his ghost*houses, or from
"etween figures sitting amid em!t$ land* sca!es.
2 am well aware that 2 am tackling a su"=ect that is
almost im* !ossi"le to !rove, as the a"stract is, after al2,
far removed from the figurative. 5 $ellow !atch on the canvas
ma$ s$m"olize the sun, "vt the reverse seems to "e
im!ossi"le. 2n other words, it would a!!ear to "e out of the
?uestion that the sun could s$m"olize a $ellow !atch. 2f the
artist !aints a "rown rectangle in the middle of an eguall$*
divided surface, with "lue at the to! and green at the
"ottom, l could inter!ret this as an ex!ression of his
anguish in the face of existence. lf, however, the same
artist were to !aint a man wearing a "rown coat in the middle
of a green field under a clear sk$, the first ?uestion will
inevita"l$ relate to the man and the em!t$ field. #hat are
the$ doing thereE 5nd the man who is heE #hat is he looking
forE 2n effect what9s it all a"outE 1nl$ another !ainter,
untouched "$ the content of the !icture, will ask the right
?ues* tion straightawa$@ what is the relationshi! "etween the
"rown coat and the green fieldE 2s it a ha!!$ choiceE 2s the
com!osition correctE 5nd so on... But for the general !u"lic,
the man in the !icture will go on standing there for ever.
This is wh$ Beksinski, who for twent$ $ears has "een
!ainting the strange scenes taking !lace in his semi*theatre,
will never "e a"le to get rid of the s!ectator, who will
o"stinatel$ insist on asking ?uestions a"out their meaning.
Beksinski will re!l$ that there is nothing there "ut visions
from the su"conscious. 5nd that he was not tr$ing to ex!ress
an$ !articular message when he !ainted a decom!osing "od$ or
a grou! of wolves under a hot*air "alloon soaring high in the
sk$. 5nd that these are o"sessions that have come straight
from !s$choanal$sis. Then the s!ectator will ask the s me
?uestion again and the misunderstanding will !ersist, im
uta"le, with each side sticking fast to its !osition.
#e ought, in fact, to take a closer look at these
o"sessions, "ecause "etter than an$thing else, the$ !rovide
an ex!lanation of the character of Beksinski9s !ainting.
5lthough Beksinski has insisted in countless interviews
and conversations that his !ictures have no intention of
modif$ing the world Fi.e. that the$ ex!ress no ideolog$H and
that the$ do not seek to serve as a distorting mirror for it
Fdou"l$ em!hasizing the a"sence of ideolog$H, then, !erha!s,
these !aintings can tell us something a"out their author.
This would alread$ "e ?uite something, since Beksinski is no
a"straction "ut a creature of flesh and "lood like all of us,
living here and now in the &:th centur$. 5nd his ex!erience
could turn out to "e our own ex* !erience.
is !ictures will thus first of all tell the s!ectator
that he is deal* ing with a neurotic. The re!etition of
certain accessories, the con* stant recurrence of seemingl$
cult o"=ects are enough to convince o"servers that this is
the case.
Take a look at the heads in Beksinski9s art. 2n the !ast,
he !hoto* gra!hed them. Then he scul!ted them, after which he
drew them.* 5nd finall$ he !ainted them in ever$ !ossi"le
variant, as he did with his figures seated in a kind of arm*
chair in the middle of a land* sca!e strewn with the filth
and ru""ish of our ur"an culture. %or thirt$ $ears, the
vision of the 6rucifixion has never left him. %or thirt$
$ears he has striven to !hotogra!h, scu2!t, draw and !aint
o"=ects in the wind or in twilight. %or $ears, his !aintings
have shown something "urning, something growing on living or
dead "odies. 4eaves fl$ in the air> a figure is constantl$
out walking with a dog* or wolf*like creature> fragments of
architecture, houses, castles and "izarre "uildings float
a"ove the ground. 5nother familiar figure is a multi*fingered
musician !la$ing the flute or the clarinet.
These motifs recur like the su"=ects of nightmares. 6an
it "e that the$ torment Beksinski as the ghosts at +ros!ero9s
"idding tormented 6ali"an in Shakes!eare9s 9The Tem!est9E
Beksinski, like an$ good disci!le of !s$choanal$sis, frees
himself from these o"ses* sions "$ !ainting them and
externalizing them.
So, if there a"solutel$ has to "e a goal "ehind these
!aintings, could the aim "e the artist9s own
auto!s$chothera!$E
owever, there is most !ro"a"l$ something else involved
here, namel$ the accom!lishment of 5 Task. This seems
m$stical, "ut what l am thinking of is reall$ ver$ sim!le@
all of us are carr$ing out a task. Survival is cif course the
most o"vious one. %or others, work is the most im!ortant
thing. Theologians have $et another suggestion to offer,
name2$ that the Task consists in s!reading the #ord of 0od.
%inall$, there is a different task, the most disinterested
one of all "ecause it is accom!lished awa$ from the human
cons* cience@ what 2 mean "$ this, of course, is 5rt.
This is wh$ artists often admit that 9Something9 is
s!eaking through them, that the$ are =ust carr$ing out the
#ill of 5nother. This is not necessaril$ 0od or some Su!erior
+ower. The 9Something9 cen "e a !s$chic need, not all that
much different from dail$ needs like defecating and
"reathing. The nature of this singular im!erative divides
!ainters into those who de!ict sunflowers and those who !aint
executions> it !roduces the com!oser who will go on writing
s$m!honies after 2osing his hearing, or the author who, night
after night, will fill reams of !a!er with !oems a"out the
devil9s su!remac$ over 0od or vice versa.
Basical2$, all Beksinski does with his life is to !aint
and to exist. +erha!s, moreover Fas he aversH, the one is
organicall$ "onded to the otherE 2n other words, he lives
"ecause he !aints and he !aints "ecause he lives. So it is
not sur!rising that there came a time when , he "ecame "ored
with executing semi*a"stract relief*!ictures "ecause the
universe the$ ref2ected had "ecome a tedious one. 2t was as
if one was condemned to a lifetime of alternatel$ eating
"oiled eggs and chocolate mousse... True, the wa$s of
com"ining a"stract forms are infinite. But !erha!s it is this
ver$ infinit$ the certitude of this infinit$ the "ecomes
sterile 2t would a!!ear far more interesting in that a much
stricter disci!line is im!osed on drawing and !ainting to
!K9nt the world of o"=ects. 2n a wa$, this task demands more
skill... fer if there are so man$ !ossi"ilities of creating
forms and o"=ects, the$ are still executed according to the
rules of the game. #hat9s 9so wonderful a"out !ainting a hand
that looks like a sauce!anE #hat is wonderful is to !aint it
!erfectl$.
The 9horror vacui9 that dominates Beksinski9s !aintings
For at least those executed "etween ().- and ()-3H is !roof
!ositive of the !erverse !leasure he gets out of the creative
!rocess. 5ll those veins, nerves and folds, the !roliferation
of o"=ects and "odies, all that o"sessive effort to cram
ever$ inch with an$thing ss long as it constitutes !ictorial
material, i.e. "rush*strokes on the su!!ort.
2f the ,ain Task in Beksinski9s life has turned out to "e
neither architecture Ffor which he was trainedH, nor
!hotogra!h$, nor even music, which he listens to from morning
to night, "ut !ain*ting, who can "e astonished that he has
made the "rush*stroke an art in itselfE #ho can "e sur!rised
that he seeks !erfection in his craft "ecause the craft alone
can im!ose others9 !erfection on himE lf he ever ha!!ens to
look at other artists9 !aintings, he does so exclusivel$ from
the craftsman9s stand!oint. e is like 6asanova, who sought
ceaselessl$ to invent fresh erotic !ositions, each one more
!erfect and !olished than the last, for each, ever*new
!aramour F"ut "asicall$ for himselfH, to the !oint of self*
arinihilation.
But we must not go too far. %or some time now from the
mid*()-:s onward, to "e more !recise a marked change has
"een noted in Beksinski9s !ainting. There are fewer and fewer
!ictures that his detractors could ?ualif$ Fwrongl$H as
anecdotic or literar$, com!lete with 9heroes9 and 9!lot9.
%irst and foremost, the three*dimensional vision of
Beksinski9s earlier works gives wa$ to !ictures that are
almost flat The "ack* grounds that formerl$ created an
atrnos!here and em!hasized events in the foreground have
disa!!eared. 2t is as if a thick fog now o"scures the half*
real, half*dreamt world of Beksinski9s earlier !aintings.
1nl$ the foreground remains. 2n these foregrounds are
figures, solitar$ for the most !art. 2f there are several of
them, the$ clas! each other in a kind of loveLdeath*em"race,
for the$ are left to their own devices in this immense void.
4overs of Beksinski9s 9t$!ical9 work will "e astonished,
and !erha!s worried, "$ the wa$ his !aintings have evolved.
The$ will find it incom!rehensi"he. #hat on earth made
Beksinski change the !oetr$ of his !ictures when for all
these $ears his art has formed a coherent wholeE #h$, as he
goes forward, is he turning "ackE
%or there is no difficult$ in realizing that his
!ainting is indeed turning "eck and, thirt$ $ears after it
"egan, is starting to descri"e a great elli!se. 1r that "$
going "ack in time,* it is drawing closer to its "eginnings.
To confirm this, let us take a look at the com!osition of
Beksin* ski9s earliest and most recent work. is drawings
dating from ()7-*().& were com!osed, if not in !erfectl$
axial fashion, at least on the "asis of the golden mean, in
accordance with the rules of the <enaissance. 4arge surfaces
were counter"alanced "$ smaller ones, and a !lain "ackground
would often feature a single !ictorial accent.
The same a!!lies to the !aintings of ()-3 to ())(. #e
find the same flat "ackground formed solel$ "$ !ictorial
means, "ack* grounds close to those of Turner, "ut even
harder to define. 6on* trasting with the "ackground, figures,
axial for the most !art, a!!ear in the foreground. The$ are
often de!icted in some strongl$ ac* centuated movement> when
this is the case the figures give the im* !ression of "eing
caught in a freeze*frame, as if =ust a fraction of their
movement had "een ca!tured on film. #e can see further !roof
of this in the multi!le re!resentation of certain elements
their hands, for instance, or the folds in their cloaks.
These are all well* known !hotogra!hic effects.
The novelt$ resides also in the other relationshi!s
existing "e* tween "ackground and figures. B$ following the
rather traditional rules of !ers!ective, Beksinski9s 9older9
!aintings F().-*()-93H showed s!ace divided into !lanes. 2f
it so ha!!ened that the outline of a figure or o"=ect was
o"literated Fwhich was seldom the caseH this was due solel$
to the !resence of mist, smoke or other natural !henomena in
the !icture.
The new !aintings are characterized "$ an entirel$
different t$!e of relationshi! "etween "ackground and
figures. Mer$ often "ut not s$stematicall$, however the
figures emerge from an a!!arentl$ neutral, 9meaningless9
"ackground. 2 stress the word 9emerge9, since the
o"literation of the outlines of 9meaningful9 o"=ects For
figuresH and their fusion with the 9meaningless9 "ackground
create an im* !ression of the "irth, from the "ackground, of
what eventuall$ takes concrete sha!e as an o"=ect or a human
"od$.
This !ictorial device, neutral in a!!earance onl$, is
!erha!s em!lo$ed =ust to diversif$ the surface of the
!icture. Be this as it ma$, in this context it takes on a
dee!er meaning. Because if Bothing Fthe "ackgroundH .is
ca!a"le of giving "irth to Something Fan o"=ect or a figureH,
we ma$ acknowledge, then, that the o"=ect is merel$
concentrated Bothingness. 0iven this h$!othesis, the artist9s
affirmation that giving form to !aint on a surface is what
reall$ interests him takes on its full force. 5rt, he
maintains, is clearl$ not a matter of !ainting anecdotes,
which would then need to "e 9understood9 Fthis was never the
case, in fact, "ut it was difficult to !rove while the o"=ect
re!resented called for a literar$ ex!lanationH, "ut of
realizing the !rime o"=ectives of ever$ !ainter@ com!osition,
colour, drawing. 2n other words, the ?uest is for the
autonom$ of 5rt, a ?uest common to ever$ artistic
revolutionar$ from, the im!ressionists through to conce!tual
artists.
Beksinski9s move towards !ure !ainting is also revealed
"$ the fact that it is currentl$ near*im!ossi"le to
9descri"e9 or 9inter!ret9 his new !ictures. The$ are no
longer 9scar$9 as his !revious works were "ecause of their
seemingl$ narrative motifs like skeletons, crucified figures,
walls with cracks a!!earing in them, and all* envelo!ing
s!ider we"s. The figures in his new !aintings lend themselves
to no descri!tion, no inter!retation, !articularl$ "ecause
the$ are reduced for the most !art to sim!le outlines, to the
remains of something with no destin$, no goal. The$ are
ghosts of a farawa$ echo of real o"=ects.
2n some of the !aintings, elements of the figures "ecome
somehow detached and dissolve into the "ackground like a wis!
of cigarette smoke floating in the air9. 2f there was an$
dou"t in the !ast on the !ast of Beksinski9s detractors, it
is ?uite o"vious toda$ that what is im!ortant a"out his
!ictures is exclusivel$ the wa$ the$ are !ainted. 5nd his
techni?ue is dazzling something rarel$ achieved these da$s.
This is how tradition has "een reunited with modernit$
the tradition of a !erfect craft allied to modern*da$
thinking on !ainting.
Sometimes !eo!le sa$@ ;4et9s see how well $ou draw
and 29ll tell $ou if $ou9re a real !ainter;
Before he revealed himself as an accom!lished !ainter,
Beksin* ski was known a"ove all as a gra!hic artist as one
of the greatest gra!hic artists, in fact. is erotic
o"sessions, to which he gave life in dense, almost
caricatural strokes, were on a "orderline "etween the
grotes?ue and the anatom$ manual and o!ened the wa$ to fame.
is drawing !eriod lasted for more than sixteen $ears F()7-*
()3'H. 8uring the later $ears F"etween ().- and ()3'H it
s!awned verita"le 9gra!hic !aintings9, where onl$ the
techni?ue em!lo$ed F"lack chalkH and the colour F"lack and
whiteH distinguish* ed them from !aintings !ro!er.
This !eriod was followed "$ a long !ause that lasted
fourteen $ears. 2t could have seemed that Beksinski would
never return to drawing. But he did take it u! again in ()--.
ere too, as with his !aintings, he went "ack to his original
source, his drawings of the late fifties@ modest drawings
almost sketches.
But the difference is o"vious at first sight. The older
drawings were more !recise, more accurate. The artist9s
stroke cut out the "od$*o"=ect with trul$ su!ernatural
!recision. Bearl$ all his recent drawings are sketches, too.
Some of them give the im!ression of "eing dashed off in a
hurr$. The$ are lighter, airier, and reveal an . artistic
freedom that could almost ?ualif$ as casual. The$ are in some
res!ects akin to the oil*!aintings !roduced at the same time.
#e find the same com!osition, the same !lain "ackground this
time formed "$ the neutral whiteness of the drawing*!a!er.
5nd it is =ust as eas$ to discover the same motifs@ a figure,
a head, or sometimes two "eings entwined...
But here again, something entirel$ new has a!!eared,
something which in turn forces us to concentrate our
attention much more closel$ on form than on content@ starting
out with a !arent*drawing, which serves as a canvas for
further mani!ulations, Beksinski
"It misses the point to ask me what scenes in my paintings 'mean'.
Simply, I do not know, myself. Moreover, I am not at all interested in
knowing."
Zdzislaw Beksinski was orn in !oland in the town of Sanok near the
"arpathians Mo#ntains in $%&%. 'fter a childhood was spent d#ring the
Second (orld (ar, Beksinski went on to #niversity where he st#died
architect#re in "racow. S#se)#ent to this ed#cation he spent several
years as a constr#ction site s#pervisor, a *o he hated, fro#ght with
press#res and co#ntless oring details. +e wo#ld soon throw himself
into the arts. In $%,-, Beksinski egan to gain critical praise for his
photography, and later went on to drawing. +is highly detailed
drawings are often )#ite large, and may remind some of the works of
.rnst /#chs in their intricate, and nearly osessive rendering.
Beksinski event#ally threw himself into painting with a passion, and
worked constantly, always to the strains of classical m#sic. +e soon
ecame the leading 0g#re in contemporary !olish art.
Beksinski and his family moved to (arsaw in $%11. 2he artist has had
many e3hiitions thro#gho#t his native !oland and .#rope. +e has
rarely attended any of them.
Bekinski's art hangs in the 4ational M#se#ms (arsaw, Sanok, "rakow,
!oznan, and the 5oteorgs 'rt M#se#m in Sweden.
"I have )#ite simply een trying, from the very eginning, to paint
ea#tif#l paintings."
6rawings from the $%78s
Beksinki's remarkale drawings possess a strength in oth mood and
s#*ect matter. 9ike his later paintings, they are intensely ha#nting and
mysterio#s. 2he drawings, partic#larly, pro*ect a nightmarish )#ality
reminiscent of the s#rrealist, Bohemian master, 'lfred :#in.
"I react strongly to images that have no ovio#s answer to their
mysteries. If there is a key to their constr#ction, they are simply
ill#stration."
!aintings from the $%18s
Beksinski egan painting in oils on masonite aro#nd the year $%18. +is
aility to manip#late the e;ects of light )#ickly ecame a hallmark of
his work, and can only e compared with the renown ailities of
(illiam 2#rner. Beksinski's paintings aremasterf#lly rendered,
mon#mental enigmans. <ne thing they share is an aesthetic of ea#ty
so potent that it overpowers any desperate nat#re of the given s#*ect
matter, as is similarly the case with Swiss artist, +.=. 5iger. 2he
paintings as a whole are wonderf#lly dark, and allow the viewer to
interperet them as they will, as they will certainly get no help from this
partic#lar artist. 's Magritte said> "2he p#rpose of art is mystery."
"2he lend of vivid colors in relation to other more s#d#ed colors in
my paintings is like a m#sical theme. 's in a symphony, a motif occ#rs,
is l#rred, comes ack in crescendo, is 0nally accent#ated and
ecomes p#re and complete."
!aintings from the $%-8s
"Meaning is meaningless to me. I do not care for symolism and I paint
what I paint witho#t medating on a story."
!aintings and "omp#ter 5raphics from the $%%8s Beksniski's paintings
have grown less representational over the years and now seem almost
astract in nat#re. "olor and te3t#re and now the proncipal themes in
themselves. 4ot so odd, as the artist egan his career in the astract
realm. +is recent comp#ter art, however, contin#es the lineage of
fantastic realism, and the artist never allows the technology to get in
the way of that he is attempting to convey creatively.