Background
Zdzislaw Beksinski was born on February 24, 1929 in Sanok, Poland. He was the son of Stanislawa Beksinska and Stanislaw Beksinski.
Warszawska 24, 31-155 Krakow, Poland
Tadeusz Kościuszko University of Technology
Zdzislaw Beksinski together with his wife and son
Beksinski and James Cowan in Warsaw
Zdzislaw Beksinski was born on February 24, 1929 in Sanok, Poland. He was the son of Stanislawa Beksinska and Stanislaw Beksinski.
Zdzislaw Beksinski studied at Faculty of Architecture at Tadeusz Kosciuszko University of Technology. In 1952, he graduated from the university with Master of Science degree.
Zdzislaw started his career as a photographer and later he became a draughtsman, graphic artist and painter. In 1964, Zdzislaw Beksinski held one his most successful exhibitions, during which all his paintings were sold. In the late 1960s, the painter entered what he himself called his "fantastic period", which lasted up to the mid-1980s. This was his best-known period, during which Zdzislaw created very disturbing images, showing a gloomy, surrealistic environment with very detailed scenes of death, decay, landscapes filled with skeletons, deformed figures and deserts.
The 1980s marked a transitory period for Beksinski. During this time, his works became popular in France due to the endeavors of Piotr Dmochowski. Also, at that time, Zdzislaw achieved significant popularity in Western Europe, the United States and Japan.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the painter focused on monumental or sculpture-like images, rendered in a restricted and often subdued colour palette. During the late 1990s, Zdzislaw Beksinski focused on digital photography and photo manipulation, the mediums, that he worked with until his death.
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Quotations:
"I wish to paint in such a manner as if I were photographing dreams."
"I'm going in the direction of a greater simplification of the background, and at the same time a considerable degree of deformation in the figures, which are being painted without what's known as naturalistic light and shadow. What I'm after is for it to be obvious at first sight that this is a painting I made."
"What matters is what appears in your soul, not what your eyes see and what you can name."
Beksinski was a member of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers. Also, in 1957, together with Lewczynski and Schlabs, Beksinski formed an informal group, which was active until 1959. The group’s last exhibition was organized by Otto Steinert and took place in Cologne at the Deutsche Gesselschaft für Fotografie. Zdzislaw was the group’s most theory-oriented artist. His surrealistic-expressionist works were among the most radical pieces, created by the trio.
Beksinski was a modest and shy person, who avoided public events, such as openings of his own exhibitions. He also abhorred silence and always listened to classical music while painting.
Zdzislaw Beksinski was married to Zofia Stankiewicz, who died in 1998. Their only son, Tomasz Beksinski, a popular radio presenter, music journalist and movie translator, committed suicide in 1999.