Zdzisław Beksiński was born in 1928 in a town called Sanok (east-south of Poland). He had a strong science and art interest since his very beginnings. He haven't gave up on it after loosing two fingers when playing with leftover after world war II (unexploded bombs) and he finished university gaining a degree on architecture and engineering science in Krakow (big city in south of Poland). After the university he was forced by communist's law to work for government as a architect and residential areas planner. After few years his interest in art and photography has grown. He became a photographer, a painter and graphic designer. He was behind the projects of appearance of Sanok town buses. He participated in charity and was passing some of his art works to charity auctions. He moved to Warsaw (capital of Poland) and lived rather sparingly in a block. He had a wife and son. Sadly his wife died in 1998 and his only son committed suicide a year after that.
He developed his personal style in painting and mastered it. You can see some of his works below. Note that those are paintings (not computer generated graphic).
Even though his art gives a sense of sadness he was described as very pleasant, easy-going and happy man. His neighbours were always praising his music taste as he was listening to music while painting. Hearing it made them feel like participating somehow in his work.
Currently his works can be seen in many Polish museums of art and also national museum of Sanok (his home town). I personally visited few such places. The exhibitions are way more stunning than the art we can find in the Internet and see on computer screen. Most of his paintings are big and when gathered in few rooms one next to another give incredible sensation. I highly recommend visiting one of his exhibitions anywhere available.
Zdzisław Beksiński died in 2005. He was murdered in his apartment by the son of his well-known handyman and a friend. The murderer told him that his father was coming and he could wait inside so Zdzisław let him in. Inside it turned out that he came to ask for money (10 000 PLN). Zdzisław refused to give him anything so he stabbed him with a knife 17 times. After that the friend of a murderer showed up and helped him clean the apartment from blood and traces. They left his body on a balcony. They stole 2 cameras and a CD collection as they coudn't find any bigger amounts of money.
The police suspected a handyman at first but after a while they realised that it was his son that did such a terrible thing. The murderer was sentenced to 25 years of prison. The guy that helped him covering this up was sentenced to 4 years.
I hope you find his story and his art interesting. If you want to know more google his name for images.
Polish readers may be also interested in this article about the police investigation after his death and also this site where you can buy painted copies of his work (there are some originals too). You can also take a look at Beksinski foundation page for more of his work and some buying opportunities as well.
I'm leaving you with the photo of Zdzisław Beksiński himself (taken in 1991, source is Wikipedia).
